Lux Et Tenebris
by mamapranayama
Summary: After an abnormal attacks, Will's resolve and friendships are put to the test. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Luxet Tenebris  
Author: Mamapranayama  
Fandom: Sanctuary  
Characters: Will, Helen  
Pairings: none, for now  
Summary: After an abnormal attacks, Will's resolve and friendship with Magnus is put to the test.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Sanctuary fanfic and is a rough WIP, so I would love some concrit for this, especially as far as characterizations goes.

**Luxet Tenebris**

By Mamapranayama

**Part One**

Will decided early on in their jungle trek that rainforests were his least favorite biome. It was raining hard as rivulets of water washed down his face and hair, mingling with the sweat on his brow and stinging his eyes.

Sure, at first an adventure through the Amazon to find a rare species of abnormal had sounded like something he would enjoy and he had to admit that he usually looked forward to the various world travels Helen Magnus had taken him on, but so far, this one had been nothing but a hot, sticky and mosquito infested nightmare.

He swore against the elements that battered him for the umpteenth time, but it wasn't the rain so much as the unbearable humidity that had him so grumpy. Normally he didn't mind a little rain, but it did little to cool him down as 90-degree heat combined with 100% humidity tended to keep things at a suffocating level of misery he had never known before. After all, he was a child of the city where shelter from the elements was only steps away at any time. But out here, even within their tents at night, the moisture and the heat always followed them, giving him little reprieve and making his mood all the worse.

Magnus on the other hand, was enjoying herself immensely. Despite the downpour and the wet clothing, she was smiling broadly as they made their way through the dense vegetation.

"We shouldn't be much farther-" She grinned back at Will trudging behind her.

"That's what you said three hours ago." He complained, swatting yet another mosquito off of his neck.

"Indeed, and we are much closer now than we were three hours ago." Helen stopped and pulled out her GPS, shielding it from the rain with her hand. "Just what I thought...I'd say we've got about three more miles to go and we should be almost on top of the nest that my friend Juan said he spotted."

"Three miles?" Will asked incredulously, his shoulders slumping. Helen ignored his obvious dismay at having to hoof it for another five kilometers through the rainy landscape and kept on speaking, growing more excited with the prospect of getting close to their quarry.

"If we're lucky, there may even be some lacerta erectus hatchlings already. However, I'm especially hopeful that the mother will still be in close by and we can get close enough to tranquilize and tag her with a GPS transponder. That way they can continue to live here in the forest, but should the destruction of the rainforest encroach any further on their territories, we'll know where to find them quickly and get them out.. We have to be careful though, these forest runners or corredores de florista as Juan calls them, can be very protective of their young, so stay on your toes."

"Kinda like a mother bear, huh?"

"Sort of...if a mother bear was a venomous reptile with four inch fangs that can run as fast as a cheetah. Then yes, that's a perfect analogy." Magnus came back facetiously.

"I guess that means that this should be a piece of cake." Will mumbled to himself under his breath. Magnus heard his grumble, but decided to ignore it, putting her GPS back and starting off again. However, Will's feet were in desperate need of a break and his back was aching under the weight of his ruck.

"You think we could take a little breather before we keep going?" Will asked, spying a downed log that would make a perfect bench.

"Again? We stopped only an hour ago. You're not tired are you?" She asked with a grin, but seeing that Will was quickly losing what little of his sense of humor was left, she relented with a nod. "Alright. I guess I could use a short respite as well, but just a few minutes, I'd like to get to the nest before sundown."

Will took off his heavy rucksack and lowered himself to the log with a long sigh of relief then pulled out his canteen for a mouthful of water. Magnus followed suit, sitting next to him. She pointed to a copse of trees nearby as a family of howler monkeys playfully swung from the branches. A pair of adolescent siblings chased each other from limb to limb while their mother nursed her baby and watched. Their whoops and characteristic voices sounded through the jungle. Will couldn't help but laugh a little at their antics and Magnus was grinning widely.

"I just love this place." She whispered to him.

"Wish I could." He replied, swatting another mosquito as it bit his arm. He may be miserable, but her obvious enjoyment was infectious and despite the bugs, the heat and the rain, he was beginning to feel a little uplifted.

"I know this trip hasn't turned out to be as much fun as you thought it might be..."

"Aww, that's okay...I guess it could be worse." He conceded somewhat sarcastically as he watched one of the young monkeys tumble onto his brother and pull at his tail. "We could be stranded inside an abandoned oil rig in the middle of the ocean with a maniacal vampire squid and enormous scorpion chasing us...oh wait, that's already happened" He grinned back at Magnus and she smiled at the memory of that adventure that had transpired only a few weeks earlier.

Magnus had promised Will a much needed vacation after that since a rendezvous with Sigrid, a psychologist from Iceland he met online, had been scuttled by that little misadventure. However, work had gotten in the way once again and that promised weekend off had been postponed. Then she had learned about this abnormal creature that she had sought after for so long and truth be told, Will had been her only choice to take along with her. Henry was too involved with updating the security systems at the sanctuary and the Big-guy was in charge with seeing to the daily operations. Kate was still an anomaly to her and she wasn't quite prepared yet for a solo trip with the brash young lady just yet. But she trusted Will, knew that he would have her back and knew that he trusted her just as much. Besides, she had already made up in her mind to make it up to him with a quick trip to Rio when all of this was done, offering him a few mojitos and some relaxation time on the beach, even if it really wasn't her thing.

The pair was quiet for a spell as they continued to watch the monkey family. With the rain was starting to let up slightly and a few more mouthfuls of water, Will was feeling refreshed and recharged enough to start off again on their journey. Helen too had polished off a few more gulps of water when she noticed the change in the monkey's behavior.

The mother monkey suddenly grabbed up her baby mid-feed and swung it onto her back. Screeching, she called out to her wayward older offspring and began charging through the treetops, fleeing the area with her children following close behind. In moments they were gone and the forest became eerily quiet.

"That was weird." Will commented, feeling the change that had come over the jungle.

"Indeed. Something has scared them off." Magnus looked around in concern. "But, it could be anything, Animals are highly in-tuned to anything that might be even remotely dangerous." She sighed and stood, picking up her rucksack again while scanning the forest for any signs of danger, but seeing none, she was satisfied that whatever had frightened the monkeys was nowhere near them, but she would remain cautious

She tapped Will on the shoulder saying, " We should get going, daylight is quickly fading."

"You're the boss." Will decided that her idea to get moving might be a good idea after all for the sooner they found their abnormal, the sooner they could head back and find some air-conditioning.

Thankfully, the rains let up into a sort of steamy mist as Magnus and Will trekked further towards their destination. It took them nearly an hour and a half to cover the next three miles, but eventually they came near the coordinates that Juan had supplied them, but there was no sign of the nest he had claimed to see.

"Perhaps he was confused about the location?" Will asked as Magnus grew more frustrated by the minute.

"Juan is an expert at this... he wouldn't mess something like this up and he wouldn't call me out here if he wasn't certain of what he saw. No, it has to be around here, we must have missed it. Perhaps we should circle around again."

Will groaned a little at the prospect of trudging around the forest in circles. This was beginning to feel more like a wild goose chance than anything else.

"Maybe he should have just come out with us and shown us the way." He grumbled to himself, but Magnus was not amused.

"I'm sure he would have if he wasn't needed back in Manaus ...he runs the entire sanctuary network for all of South America, you know. He's very busy."

"And you run the entire sanctuary network, period. Yet, you're not too busy to go trapezing through the jungle."

"Will, this creature has been something I have wanted to bring into the sanctuary's protection for many years. I couldn't pass this opportunity up."

"I know that, I'm just saying -"

"Enough." Magnus stopped suddenly and turned a scornful eye towards her much younger protege, raising her voice in sudden anger. "When does it stop? When will you learn that I don't go on these expeditions merely for my own benefit or curiosity, but because I am committed to ensuring that all abnormals have the same right to a decent life that you and I enjoy.."

"You don't think I know that?"

"Sometimes I wonder." She shot back. "You have been rather restless of late, what with your complaining about missing that damned conference and your constant whining-"

"Whining?"

"Yes, whining. I know this life can be difficult, Will. But, if you are not prepared for the hardships that come along with it, then perhaps you would be better off going back to your life in the city."

Will's jaw dropped open at Magnus' stinging words. He was at a loss for what to say and turned away from her. He felt his own anger rising. Here he was following her all over the frickin' jungle and she had the gall to tell him that he didn't understand the importance of her work.

"Magnus...." He turned around, raising a finger, about to tell her off.

"What, Will?" She shot back, annoyance clearly resounding in her voice.

"Nevermind." He threw up his arms in resignation instead getting into a huge row with her. They had fought enough lately, so with a huff, he began to walk away from her accusing stare.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a leak." He called back in an irritated voice without bothering to turn around then disappeared into the trees.

Magnus had immediately regretted the words she had lashed out at him, but he was already out of sight before she could apologize. It was unbelievable that she had lost control like that, it was entirely unlike her, but she had to admit to herself that her emotions of late had been more than a little erratic. She had built a carefully constructed wall around herself since Ashley's death, but since her daughter's birthday had come and gone without her, some of the mortar that held those bricks in place that had begun to crumble. For the past twenty-two years she had known a love beyond words for her daughter and now she was gone and the attempt to push aside the emptiness and utter, unbearable grief she was feeling so she could continue on with her work was growing weaker by the day.

She knew, that as a psychiatrist, Will was aware that she was doing her best to stamp down those feelings that lurked beneath the surface of her hardened exterior, but she pushing him and everyone else away was far easier than actually confronting those emotions. And now she had let some of the seething anger and despair she had been holding back slip out and Will had had the misfortune of being in the way when it happened. She resolved at that moment to find him immediately and apologize for her lapse in judgment.

"Will-" She started. "Come back...look, I'm sorry." She began to head off in the direction he had taken off. "Will?" She asked as she failed to find him after the first few moments. He couldn't have gotten far, yet she could see head nor tails of him.

"Will!?" She called out louder this time, her anger resurfacing when he didn't answer. "I know what I said was totally inappropriate, but you don't need to stamp off like some child-"

Her ire dissipated quickly into worry when she realized that the jungle had grown silent once again and she could sense a change in the atmosphere. Her skin prickled with a sudden fear as she felt a danger in the air surrounding her. Reaching into her pack, she grabbed for her tranquilizer gun.

"Will....answer me. Where are you?" Her heartbeat picked up when he failed to respond yet again. Just ahead, she heard an ear-piercing screech that had her rushing to the noise, plowing through the dense foliage, heedless of the branches and twigs snapping in her face as she ran. She came to a sudden stop when she came upon a small clearing, finding her friend staring down a massive reptilian; the very forest runner they had been searching for.

Standing on two, muscular legs with all the appearance of a man yet with the head that resembled a dragon it opened it's mouth to display the massive, jagged teeth and fangs that could easily tear a man to shreds. The creature snarled and hissed with it's long, forked tongue, Flexing the long talons on it's hands. It's red, intense eyes darkened towards the young psychiatrist as he stood utterly stock still, trying not to tempt the foreboding creature looming nearby into attacking him. The reptile reared up and growled menacingly, seeming to double in size as it did so.

"Nice, lizard." Will told it softly as he backpedaled, holding out his hand in a placating gesture as if to soothe the beast like one would a feral dog. Moving very slowly, Will pulled out the machete sticking out of his rucksack by the handle and attempted to keep moving backward, hoping that it would retreat as he did.

The creature let out another high-pitched wail, snapping it's sharp teeth and filling the jungle with it's cry. Helen knew that it wasn't going to back down and she needed to get it knocked out before it struck at Will.

Raising her tranquilizer gun, she took aim, but Will was standing between her and the reptile, blocking her shot.

"Will! Down!" She shouted.

Will hadn't heard Magnus approach as he had been too distracted by the giant lizard to notice her standing behind him. Taken by surprise by her order, he whipped his head around, taking his eyes off of the creature for the briefest of seconds.

That was all it needed.

Moving faster than anything Magnus had ever seen before, the beast had Will on his back before he ever had a chance to react. It pounced on him ferociously and he desperately tried to fend off the creature's long, sharp teeth and claws with his machete, swinging it wildly. The blade however, was easily swatted out of his hand with one clean sweep of it's long arm and flung it into the trees. Wasting little time with accuracy, Magnus shot her tranquilizer and the dart landed in the runner's meaty leg. Howling in pain and anger, the beast sunk it's claws into Will's chest.

"Magnus!" He cried, as the creature dug in deep, tearing through his clothes and into his flesh.

Helen had made sure that the sedative she loaded into her tranq. gun had been a powerful one before they left for the jungle, yet the creature showed little sign of slowing down. In fact, it had grown increasingly irate. Fueled by adrenaline, it opened it's gaping mouth wide, baring it's long, glistening fangs, intent on ripping the young man pinned underneath of it apart. Instinctively, Will threw up his hands to hold the creature's mouth from tearing out his throat, but he was fighting a losing battle and angry at being unable to rip into it's prey, it spit a spray of fluid from it's maw directly into his eyes.

Letting out a shrill cry of pain, Will somehow kept his hold on the beast even as the liquid burned and seared his eyes and face.

At the same time, Magnus had loaded her gun with another dart, quickly took aim and shot again. This time it landed into the runner's neck and it reared up, insanely angered yet forgetting it's victim and focusing it's red eyes directly on her. It leaped off of Will's chest and began charging towards her. As soon as it's feet hit the ground though, it stumbled. The drug, finally beginning to take hold as the beast fell to it's knees, unable to go any further then fell face first to the jungle floor.

"Oh God, Will!" Magnus sprang forward even before the runner had hit the ground and was racing to her friend lying writhing and bleeding on the ground. She landed hard on her knees beside him, trying to assess his injuires, but Will had his eyes screwed tightly shut, groaning and rolling onto his knees, burying his face in his hands hoping to stop the pain in this eyes, but it did little to help.

"Hold still, turn over." Magnus ordered. She whipped off her rucksack and grabbed her canteen from inside. Will was still on his knees, so she gently took him by the shoulder to help him roll over. He maintained his hands over his face and she nearly had to pry them off to get a look. She gasped a little at the sight after she removed his hands; his eyes were puffy and swollen while blisters marked the rest of his facial skin. Knowing that the venomous acid the runner spit could not only make him terribly ill, but could blind him permanently, she needed to act quickly.

"I need to flush you eyes, Will. Can you open them for me?"

"Not sure." He responded through clenched teeth, but allowed Helen to pour the water from her canteen onto his face. He tried not to flinch as she pried open his eyelids. She cursed when she saw that his contacts were still in and and did her best to take them out for him without causing him any further pain, but he couldn't help but hiss as light entered his eyes and burned his retinas. Using her canteen, she drained as much water as she could into his sore eyes to flush away the toxin until there was none left in her canteen

"I think that should do it." She tried to reassure him just as much as she needed to reassure herself.

Will managed a little nod, screwing his eyes tightly shut again. Even with them closed and in the darkened shade of the trees, the light from the sun was searing and tears flowed uncontrollably.

"Go ahead and lie down, I'm going to have a look at those claw wounds on your chest." He felt Magnus' hand on his shoulder, pushing him slightly in order to lay him down on his back. He had almost forgotten about the claws that had sunk into his chest, the pain in his eyes greatly overshadowing all of his other injuries.

Once on the soggy ground, Helen ripped off the last remaining shreds of his shirt, carefully pulling it out from underneath him She breathed a sigh of relief seeing that he had four round, but minor punctures to his skin. Thankfully none of them went very deep and a couple of bandages and some antibiotics would be all he needed for them.

Meanwhile, Will was having a hard time focusing beyond the pain in his eyes and he flung an arm over his face to shield his eyes from the light. He shook uncontrollably now that the adrenaline that had fueled his fight against the creature was gone and groaned miserably.

Reaching for her rucksack, Helen opened it and foraged inside for the med kit she had stored in there, pulling it out and grabbing a roll of gauze and a handful of bandages. Sensing his discomfort, Helen released her sleeping bag from her rucksack as well and laid it over him.

"Better?" She asked. He nodded, it's warmth was welcome, but he continued to shake as the wet ground soaked him from underneath.  
She unwrapped a couple of cotton pads then touched the arm covering Will's face, removing it so she could place the pads over his eyes. She winced seeing that his eyelids were now a dark shade of purple, completely swollen shut and leaking bloody tears. She gently wiped his eyes first then placed the pads over each of them. He whimpered slightly while she wrapped the gauze around his head several times in order to hold the cotton in place.

While his eyes and face still felt as though they were on fire, Will was glad to have the bandage over his eyes for it blocked most of the light from getting into his eyes, giving him a small glimmer of relief. It was then that a new sensation took hold of Will. Like little pin pricks poking him all over his skin, he felt hot and cold all at the same time and his stomach cramped, nauseating him. His once clenched teeth now chattered on their own accord and he shivered though he was foggy with the pain, it still struck him that he was most likely going into shock or something worse.

"D-didn't you say th-these things were v-venomous?" He tried to ask past the shudders coursing through him. He didn't like the hesitation in Magnus' voice when she replied. He heard the crinkling of more bandages being opened.

"They are, but their venom is usually not lethal." She answered while pulling down the sleeping bag from his chest and dressing his wounds there.

"U-usually?"

"I'm afraid there hasn't been much research into the effects of the their toxin on humans. We know that they can kill monkey's with their spittle.... "

"And I g-got it in the eyes." He finished for her.

"I know, there is the possibility that it could be absorbed into the blood through the capillaries of the eyes " She sighed. "But, I'm hoping I acted quickly enough to wash the poison out before that occurred. Also, you are much larger than a monkey, so one would have to assume that it would have a weaker effect on you. I think we should focus on getting out of here and back to the sanctuary, I can better treat you there. I'm going to call Juan, relay our coordinates and have a helicopter pick us up."

Magnus searched in her rucksack again for her satellite phone.

"I'm s-sorry..." Will started, licking his now painfully dry lips, wishing he could stop shaking for long enough to get the words out clearer. "s-shouldn't h-have walked off l-like that"

"No. What I said was totally inappropriate." She told him. "I shouldn't have said what I did, I lost control and I'm not even sure why. If anyone needs to apologize, it's me." She patted his shoulder.

"I know th-that y-you had a hard time since A-ashley...."

Helen closed her eyes, not wanting the conversation to go in that direction and it was plainly clear to her that speaking was becoming a chore for Will.

"No need to talk now. Just rest, Will." Magnus stood to make her call, but Will blindly reached out a shaky hand. She understood his need for contact and to comfort, so she took his hand, feeling the heat and vibrations of his body through it and sat back down again beside of her ailing friend. "You're going to be fine. You have my word on that."

Making her call to Juan, she relayed their position to him and twenty minutes later a chopper from Manaus, the closest city with a sanctuary, was on its way to their location. As they waited, Helen could only watch helplessly as her friend grew worse with each passing minute. The cramping had spread to all of his muscles and he mumbled incoherently, lost to the pain and fever that the toxin was producing. He was violently ill several times and Helen used the last of the water remaining in Will's canteen to keep him hydrated. However, despite her best efforts, the water too often came back up.

She ran a hand across his sweaty forehead after his last bout of dry-heaving, his skin hot and clammy, but he seemed to garner a bit of comfort from her, his moaning abating somewhat under her touch.

"Don't leave m-me in the d-dark." He pleaded with her, his voice barely above a whisper before losing his lucidity again. She couldn't help but be reminded of the small boy she had comforted all those years ago when his mother had been killed. He had been in pain and traumatized then and barely aware of her presense as well, but she knew that he needed to hear her voice, to be assured that she wouldn't leave him alone, that he was safe with her.

"I'm here, Will. I always will be." She spoke softly into his ear as she held his hand to her chest, "I won't let you go."

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own, just borrow.**

**_A/N: I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas this year and will have a happy new year! Once again, I don't have a beta, so if there are any mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know. Thanks to all that left a review for the first chapter, feedback is always appreciated._**

**Part II**

His mouth was dry and all he wanted was a glass of water. Voices were speaking nearby in a familiar yet foreign language and they went on with their conversation oblivious to his need. Figuring that now was a good time to wake up as any, he ventured to open his eyes, but when he found that he couldn't, a stark panic set in.

He tried to speak, but his raw throat had his voice croaking and nothing came out but a weak "Hello?"

The voices stopped speaking and as his mind raced with confusion when he realized that his whole body ached, his head and chest especially. His stomach also rebelled and a nausea assaulted his senses.

Heart thumped loudly in his chest, the darkness seemed to swallow him whole. For the life of him, he could not remember how he had ended up like this or where he was. He choked on his breath, finding it difficult to catch as a bottomless pit opened up underneath of him. Full blown fear seized hold and threatened to take over completely until a hand grasped his. The sudden contact with another human being brought him back from the brink of an anxiety attack as another hand brushed through his hair on the top of his head. Then he heard a voice speaking softly, reminding him to breathe deeply.

Slowly the panic ebbed and he grew more aware of the voice speaking to him, recognizing it.

"In and out, Will. That's it." He followed her instructions and felt his heartbeat come down.

Helen felt Will's hand tighten around her own and for the first time in three days he turned his head towards the sound of her voice.

"Magnus?" he asked weakly, his tight throat resisting the act of being used.

"It's me, Will."

"Water?"

"Of course, you must be parched." He felt her hand leave his then heard the sound of water being poured into a glass. A moment later a straw touched his lips and he readily accepted the refreshment, taking long gulps.

"Not too fast" She warned him. "You're stomach might not be completely settled yet." He nodded, feeling his stomach rumble unhappily and she took the straw away. With his throat feeling better he ventured to speak again asking, "Where are we?"

"We're in Manaus, Brazil. Do you remember what happened?"

"No, not really...we were..." He strained to recall. "In... a forest?"

"Yes, the Amazon. You were attacked by a creature called the forest runner. You've been ill for many days due to the effects of the runner's venom.."

Will touched a hand to his head, feeling the bandage that covered his eyes. "How?... What happened to my eyes? Why do they hurt so much?"

Helen cleared her throat. "The creature attacked you by spitting it's venom into your eyes, that's how the poison was transmitted to your bloodstream. Thankfully we were able to create an anti-venom from the creature we caught and treated you before things got any worse, but I'm afraid you'll have to wear these bandages for a while."

"How long? Will I be able to see after that?" He decided to ask straight out. He didn't want any beating around the bush with this, if he was going to be permanently blind, he wanted to know right now. Even without the benefit of his vision, he caught the hesitation in her voice and quite frankly, it scared him.

"We won't know until the you've had some time to heal. Truly, it's just too soon to tell."

Will absorbed that while he felt Magnus grab his hand and squeeze it reassuringly. He was too numb to really acknowledge her gesture, the prospect that he might not be able to see again was almost too much for him to comprehend. His whole life he had depended on his ability to see things that other usually missed, what would he do if his sight never returned? He wasn't sure he could live like that.

He hadn't even noticed that Magnus was still speaking to him as he was too wrapped up in his own fears, ".... We should be able to leave soon now that you're doing better and I know a fine ophthalmologist in the city. I've given him a call already and he should be able to see you when we get back."

Will could only nod his head slightly in reply. "Don't worry, Will. He's the best in his field and a personal friend of mine. He'll take excellent care of you."

Helen sat down on the bed next to her friend, feeling his hand slack a little in hers as the awareness of his situation sunk in. It was plain to see from the pinched lines of his face that he was still in a good amount of pain and his skin was still a little too warm for her liking, but she worried most about how he might take everything if he did lose his sight permanently. She sighed, unsure of what she could say next that would assuage his distress, for she too was uncertain about the outcome.

For now though, she was just pleased to see him alert again. The last few days had been extremely trying and she had only slept a few hours here and there since they first came into Manaus. Will's pain and fever had been horrific that first night and all of the pain medications at their disposal had little effect. In his delirium he had cried out for hours until seizures wracked his body and she was forced to use anti-convulsants. She struggled for far too long in her opinion to produce an anti-venom from the Runner's toxin, but she thanked her lucky stars that the treatment had been successful and they had managed to reduce his body temperature enough the next day to bring the seizures under control.

The days following that first harrowing night saw Will go from mad delirium to utter stillness. With a ghostly white pallor that only seemed to highlight the injuries to his body, he looked more like a corpse than the lively young man she knew. She stayed by his bed side since then, only leaving for restroom breaks or when Juan insisted that she get a few hours of sleep.

Speaking of which, she turned to look behind her, seeing Juan waiting patiently, she addressed him in Portuguese. "I'm going to call Henry and see about arranging a flight for us. Would you mind keeping an eye on Will for me?"

"Of course." He replied taking up a chair next to the bed.

Helen walked out of the small infirmary and into the hallway, closing the door behind her before resting back against the door with a sigh. Indeed she was exhausted and the crushing pangs of guilt she felt were still residing deep within. But with Will seemingly on the mend, she felt a wave of relief flush over her and she afforded a moment to lay her head back and close her eyes. Though the rest was brief, it was enough to recharge her and she collected herself once again before taking off to make her call.

Will heard Magnus speak to Juan then leave the room. He wasn't sure what she had said as he wasn't very fluent in Portuguese, but he knew the other man was still in the room as he could hear him shifting in his seat. It was uncomfortably silent after that until Juan broke the tension in his heavily accented English.

"You feeling better, no?"

"Uh...I guess." Will wasn't in much of a mood for talking, but the Brazilian felt the need to fill the silence and Will was too exhausted to complain.

"Helen...she's been extremely worried for you these last few days. She worked non-stop until she found the anti-venom and after that she's hardly left this room."

"Sounds like Magnus."

"Indeed. You're very lucky to have her. She saved your life."

Will nodded, but couldn't find the words to respond as he was growing more tired by the second, the conversation small as it was, was draining and as Juan droned on about stuff he wasn't really interested in, he fell into a fitful sleep.

_**One Week Later**_

Will lay on his bed lost in his thoughts, unaware that the light was off until he heard the door open and a switch being flicked.

"Are you awake?" a gruff voice asked with a grunt.

"Don't you ever knock?" He grumbled in reply as he felt a furry hand encircle his bare bicep.

"It's almost time to go." Will could almost hear the tsk in Bigfoot's words. "You're not even dressed."

"Sorry...can't exactly see the clock, you know." Will snapped back. He didn't mean to be so snippy, but he just couldn't help it. Sure, he felt better physically as the ache in his muscles and the weakness he had the first few days was mostly gone, but he hated this the most. A week in the dark, a week of having to have people lead him around and pick out his clothes or having to rely on others so much was an experience he didn't want in any part to continue. As ready as he was to have the bandages removed from his eyes and be examined by the ophthalmologist Magnus was taking him to that day, he dreaded what the possible outcome might be. From what he had dealt with since he woke up in Brazil, he concluded decisively that living like this was not an option.

After hearing a drawer open and shut again, Will felt a t-shirt and a pair of jeans being handed to him with a grunt. Sighing, he sat up and stood, toeing off his slippers and pajama bottoms. He dressed silently, knowing that the Big-Guy was still watching in case he needed help, even if he didn't want it. Surprisingly, out of all of the occupants in the house, his hairy friend, the one who seemed to enjoy hitting people upside the head for no reason, had been the most attentive to him. Actually, 'mother hen' came to mind when he thought about it. It was a little sufficating being hovered over by him, getting his temp taken or being reminded to eat like a child every time he came by to check on him. Yet at the same time, Will knew that he was instinctively and fiercely protective of those that occupied the house and made up his sort-of adoptive family. It made the young man feel irritated and wanted all at the same time.

Then there were the others.

Henry was busy, but still came by his room at most meal times to eat with him. He said it was because it gave him excuse to be away from Kate and her horrible table manners, but Will had the sinking suspicion that he was trying his best to keep him company and cheer him up, which he had to admit to himself was no small feat. Henry even tried to lighten his mood by reading comic books to him, describing the scenes from X-men as best as he could, but without a point of reference to what the characters looked like since Will had never been much of a fan, it hadn't worked out so well. Instead, Will suggested having the man read him some of his professional journals for him. Henry, despite his claims that they were less interesting than watching glue dry, gave it a try. Will appreciated Henry's efforts, but all too often he just wanted to be left alone.

Kate only came by a couple of times. Will got the distinct impression that she was avoiding him. When she did come by it was usually just to drop a tray of food off when Big-foot couldn't do it and even then, she wouldn't stay much longer than to ask if he needed anything. Will could understand her reluctance to see him, his face was still covered with sores and he had to be a sight. Not that she wasn't sympathetic, but she was a person of action and not words. She probably just didn't know how to act around him, seeing him in a way where she couldn't do much to help.

Magnus too seemed to be doing her best to spend as little time with him as possible even though she had apparently been on constant vigil with him when he was sick in Brazil. There was something odd about the way she acted around him since they got back. She was polite and friendly with him, but it was almost as if she was too polite, too nice. He couldn't quite place his finger on it as it was a lot harder to pick up people's body language when he couldn't see them, but in her voice he could hear how uncomfortable she was to even be near him. He mostly chalked it up to his imagination, Magnus wasn't the type to go out of her way to avoid people, but he knew she was a master at avoiding herself. Something had to be bothering her about him and that didn't sit well with him.

Once he was dressed, Bigfoot grabbed his hand and placed it on his shoulder. Will allowed himself to be led out of the room. He especially hated having to be escorted everywhere he went. However, the one time he had tried to venture out on his own after he felt better, he had gotten completely turned around and somehow ended up in Henry's office when he had been looking for the kitchen. Embarrassed, he had to let Henry walk him back to his room. Since then, he had to rely on the others and it wasn't something he was comfortable with.

Helen had been waiting in the foyer for Bigfoot to bring Will. When she saw them approach, she still had to steel her emotions against the raw guilt she still felt whenever she saw her young protege in the state he was currently in. It had been her choice to take Will to the Amazon with her and it had been her hurtful words that had sent him walking off alone. While his memory of that day didn't include their little spat in the forest, she was haunted by it. He wouldn't have been hurt if they had been together, of that much she was certain. Since they had returned, she told herself that she needed to give Will his space and let him recover, even if it was more for her own benefit than his. Of course, she still kept a close eye on him, surreptiously watching him though the security cameras, but it was difficult to see him just lying there when it had been all her fault. It had been much easier to stay by his side when he was barely conscious of her being there, but with his extraordinary ability to read people, she knew he would pick up on her feelings of guilt and try to persuade her that it wasn't her fault. She would have none of that, she deserved her culpable emotionsand the only way she wanted to assuage them would be for Will to be whole once again.

As they approached. She smiled a bit to her large assistant and nodded, taking Will's hand from his shoulder.

"Ready for this?" She asked him.

He inhaled deeply and let it out. "I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Helen noted the trepidation in his voice, she felt it too. She just prayed for a good outcome after he had the bandages removed and for a return to normalcy in their friendship.

Will too hoped for things to be normal again or at least as normal as their lives usually were. When he thought about it more, he realized that Magnus wasn't just Helen led Will out to the car and the two rode in silence until they arrived at the office of Dr. Benjamin Rouch. She had been friends with Ben since the 70's when he first began his practice. He was intimately familiar with her work with abnormal population and she had consulted him many times before when it came to proper evaluation of some of the various species she brought in. But now with her friend in need, she hoped his expertise would be able to help him better than she could herself.

"We're here." She announced, parking the car.

Will had been unconsciously twisting at his shirt a little bit as he waited for Magnus to shut off the car and lead him to the office where they were immediately greeted by a cheerful, bearded yet neatly groomed, rotund man in his middle sixties.

"Helen!" He smiled broadly, walking over to her jovially and grasping her hand while kissing her cheek. "It's been too long. You seem to get younger each time I see you while I on the other hand just get balder and more grey." He laughed a deep belly laugh while touching the thinning crown of his head.

"Indeed it's been too long." Helen smiled in return then turned to Will. "Ben, this is Dr. Will Zimmerman...."

"Hello.." Will began distractedly, holding out his hand almost as an afterthought.

"Yes..." the older man took his hand it pumped it with a strong, but friendly grip. "Helen has told me a lot about you, young man...mind if I call you Will?"

"Uh..Sure, of course." Will replied. He felt a hand on his shoulder, pushing him forward.

"Well, let's go have a look at you, shall we?" He was led into down a stretch of what he assumed to be a hallway, directed to a room and shown to a raised chair for him to sit in.

Will took a few calming breaths while he sat, then heard the doctor sit down next to him close enough for him to feel the other man's breath on his face. He was grateful that the doctor apparently had good dental hygiene as he moved in closer.

"Helen, would you be so kind as to turn off the lights?" Ben asked.

"Of Course." She replied. Will heard the switch then felt a pair of hands behind his head, gently undoing the gauze that held the bandages to his eyes.

"Alright, we'll take it slow. The lights are off so they shouldn't hurt your eyes, but take your time trying to open them after I get these off, Okay?"

Will nodded and swallowed in anticipation. Helen had changed his bandages daily, but he had been instructed to keep them closed each time, now however would be the first time he had attempted to open them. He had been tempted to rip off the bandages himself many times and test his eyes out himself out of frustration, but with everyone watching him like a hawk and dropping into his room at all times just 'to check up on him' he never would have dared.

Feeling the gauze unwind and the pressure of the bandages lessening over his eyes, he held his breath as he felt the pads over his eyes being peeled off. Next a cottonball passed over his eyelids, cleaning the crusts that had embedded in his eyelashes.

A hand clasped his shoulder once his eyes were cleaned. "Okay...go ahead and try to open your eyes."

At first his eyelids refused to obey the instructions his brain was sending them to open, but slowly they inched their way apart.

Helen watched from the other end of the room. She wanted to sit by Will's side, but at the same time she was too apprehensive to approach. Feeling foolish, she finally steeled up her resolve to walked over and take a chair by his side.

Will almost had his eyes open all of way when she heard him gasp and begin to hyperventilate.

"Oh God...I can't see anything."

_To Be Continued...._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter, it was a difficult one for me to write. Once again, thanks for all of your feedback, I really love hearing from everyone. :D

**Part III**

Helen sat on the roof watching the lights of the city sparkle down below. It was a view that normally calmed her and gave her a great sense of peace and allowed her thoughts to gather, but tonight she had found little solace here. After returning from the disastrous consult with Dr. Rauch, Will had gone to his room, wanting nothing but to be left alone, so she had come up to the roof to think. However, her persistent, gnawing guilt ate at her from the inside out, Will was blind and she shared a blame in that. He had been a wreck in the doctor's office, but had managed to pull himself together enough for them to get a good look at his eyes. She was haunted still by his look of anguish on his face and the silent tears that he shed when he first opened his lids and revealed the white scarred and cloudy eyes underneath, it was an image she would not be able to shake any time soon. She had tried to console him, but there wasn't anything she could do or say that could make things better and she hated that more than anything.

A chilly wind kicked up and she pulled her coat in closer, but she had no desire to go back in just yet. Dr. Rauch had performed several tests and she prayed that Will's blindness wasn't permanent, that something could be done. If it was mearly the cateracts that had formed over his eyes that was blocking his vision, then surgery, even a corneal transplant was still possible, but if it was his optical nerves that had been damaged as Ben suspected, then there was little that could be done.

The sound of her phone ringing in her pocket pulled her from her reverie and she pulled it out, drawing in a deep breath seeing the caller ID flash Dr. Rauch's name. Anxiously she flipped the cell open and answered.

"Ben, please tell me you have some good news."

_"Well Helen, I wish I could, but I'll put it to you bluntly.... I've been pouring over these test results, hoping that I would have something positive to tell you. But, as you already know just by looking at Will's eyes, the burns and scarring to his corneas are significant and after review of his results, I found that there is quite a bit of optical nerve damage as well."_

Helen closed her eyes in dismay. As a physician, she knew that the body's nervous system has no ability to regenerate damaged nerves on it's own and with a million connections from the optical nerve of one eye to the brain alone, complete eye transplants just aren't possible yet.

_"I'm sorry, Helen. Truly I am. I wish there was more I could do, but I don't think surgery is an option." He heard him sigh. "However, I've been doing some research into stem cell therapies for cases such as Will's, but it could still be many years before I have any sort of effective treatment in that area."_

"I understand, Ben." She replied, barely able to hold back her frustration at the lack of treatment or surgery that could reverse Will's condition. She needed options and she knew the only way to find them was to search for them herself and when presented with a problem, she was never one to back down. "Would you be so kind as to send all of your test results to me so that I may go over them. Also, it would like to read your research as well."

_"Absolutely. I'll e-mail them to you as soon as I can. And once again, I'm sorry."_

"Thank-you, Ben." She replied, unable to hold back the dismay in her voice.

_"Don't mention it and... tell Will how sorry I am that I couldn't be of more help."_

"I'll do that." She hung up the phone, her mind whirling from the news, but she wasn't ready to give up just yet. She made a silent vow then and there that she wouldn't stop searching for a way to cure Will. She owed him that much.

_**One week later:**_

"Dinner's ready." Came a grunt from the door.

"Thanks, I'll take it in here." Helen responded without looking up from her computer screen.

Seeing the untouched tray of food Big-foot had brought to her for lunch still sitting where he had left it by her side, her hairy assistant shook his head and walked across the lab to retrieve it.

"If I bring it will you eat it?"He asked, picking up the tray.

"Oh...I guess I got caught up in my work and forgot to eat my lunch. I've been studying Dr. Rauch's research, it's very promising so far and he theorizes that one might be able to regenerate nerve cells by blocking the glial scar from forming which normally blocks the nerves from reproducing, however...." Helen looked up with a small grin, but let it fade seeing the disapproving face staring back at her. "I'm sorry. I'm sure your lunch was as delicious as always and I promise to eat all of my dinner."

"You've been working non-stop in here all week. You should join the rest of us for dinner and take a break."

"I'd love to, but there's just so much to do."

He merely responded by giving her a look that told that he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

"Then again, I suppose a short break may be in order, then I can return to this with fresh eyes." The big-guy nodded with a grunt and wordlessly headed for the door as Helen stood and stretched out the cramps in her muscles that had formed from spending so much time sitting in front of her computer. She really would have rather spent more time on her research, but a noisy grumble from her stomach made it clear that dinner couldn't wait.

As she entered into the dining room, Henry and Kate suddenly stopped their latest argument regarding the young woman's cleaning habits and both looked up in surprise to see her. Normally, Helen relished dinner time with her colleagues, it was a time to catch up on the goings-on around the sanctuary, a time to enjoy each other's company and form closer bonds with her friends. However, her focus had been almost entirely on finding a way to help Will for the last week so much that she had often had to forgo it in favor of doing more research. By the looks Kate and Henry were giving her, it was obvious that she had been away for too long.

"Hi, Magnus." Henry greeted with a grin as she took her seat at the table.

"Henry, Kate." She nodded and returned the greeting just as Bigfoot walked in with the food and began to serve everyone.

Helen noticed the empty chair and asked. "Will won't be joining us tonight?"

Glances were exchanged between Henry and Kate and from Kate to the Big-guy who just shook his head with a grunt. There silent communication led Helen to conclude that she truly had spent too much time in her lab the last week and she now regretted that she hadn't joined everyone else sooner.

"Will hasn't been coming to dinner since...you know." Henry informed her, recalling the first night after he had been told that the nerve damage done to his eyes was most likely permanent. He had come to dinner then on the insistence of Helen, but he had been self-conscious and embarrassed especially when he accidentally toppled over a glass while trying to reach for it. He asked to be led back to his room for the night after that, claiming to be full when everyone knew otherwise.

"I see." It was silent across the table as everyone ate until Helen noticed that Henry was fixing her with a hard stare. Henry had felt the absense of Helen most keenly as she locked herself away with her studies. He understood her need to help Will, but at the same time, he had felt somewhat abandoned as he tried to help his friend come to terms with his blindness. But in the last few days, Will seemed to be withdrawing himself more and more, slipping into a dark depression and despondency. And today when Henry had come to visit, it was as though Will was barely tolerating his presence and after only a few minutes, Will claimed to be tired and asked to be left alone. Now Henry was worried and unsure of how to help anymore.

"Something wrong, Henry?"

Henry shifted around in his seat before answering trying to think of a way to put things that wouldn't upset Magnus. "Yeah...it's Will. He's in a really bad way, Magnus."

"I know...this would be tough on anyone."

"It's not just that...I mean you know how he was before. The way he could spot things that others couldn't was kinda spooky, ya know? And now that's gone, that's got to mess with a guy's head."

"Yeah." Kate joined in. "He always did have that freaky eye thing going for him."

"This has got to the worst thing that could have happened to a guy like him" Henry continued. "And lately it's like...I don't know..like he's giving up. He just lays in his room, never comes out and today..he was so depressed that-" Henry gulped a little and could hardly bring himself to say what he was truly concerned about, that Will might be on the verge of doing something terrible to himself. "I'm worried that I just don't know how to help him anymore. You got to talk to him Magnus, I know that you've been pretty determined to find a cure for him, but-"

"Yes Henry, I understand." Helen replied, seeing Henry's distress over the situation and picking up on his fears, feeling guilty all over again for allowing her research to become an obsession that had taken her focus off of her friend. She had failed him yet again. She thought she had been helping, but she had lost sight of the real problem.

"I shall speak to him after dinner." She promised.

XXXXXXX

Will lay on his side, wrapped in a blanket. That is where he had spent the majority of his days since he lost his eyesight, each one blending into the next in an endless parade that saw no end. The darkness truly had taken hold of him and there was no escaping it. In his dreams he could still see in vibrant colors, but even those had turned on him as his recurring nightmares that had all but vanished since he came to work for the sanctuary, had returned with a vengeance. Even sleep was becoming less of a reprieve from his misery.

Magnus had been very insistent after she told him about the nerve damage to his eyes that she would find a solution and have him seeing once again, but even a brilliant and dedicated scientist like herself had limits. While he had no doubt that she would do her best and explore every possible route to help him regain his vision, he was resigned to the fact that he would never see again.

He hadn't had much of an appetite and his dinner sat cold beside of him, but he was thirsty and the need for water finally compelled him to sit up. Feeling around for where the tray of food the big-guy had left for him on his nightstand, he fumbled around until his hands touched the smooth glass. However, his hands failed to make a good connection with it and it tipped over, spilling it's contents all over the tray.

"Shit." He murmured to himself in frustration as even the simplest tasks had become so difficult. Still thirsty, he grabbed the now empty glass and made up his mind to head to the bathroom sink to refill it. Swinging his legs off the edge of the bed, his bare feet touched the floor but unbeknown to him, a puddle of water from the spilled glass had landed on the floor and with his first step he felt himself slip. As his hands flung out to steady himself from falling, the glass slipped out of his hand and landed with a crash onto the hardwood floor, shattering on impact.

"Goddammit!" He hurled out in anger at himself and at dark that kept him from even being able to even get a glass of water for himself. He sank down along the edge of the bed to the floor, the proverbial straw on the camel's back had broken him and he gave into the misery of his situation, drawing his knees, he clasped them tightly to his chest.

God, he thought. He was so useless. What was he to do now? Definitely his career would be over and there wasn't any way he could still be of any use to Magnus. How was he to read people or track abnormals like she needed him to do before when he couldn't even get himself a glass of water?

He sat for several minutes until he released his hands from his knees and slid his legs out in front. He hadn't realized that his feet were sliding directly into the broken glass on the floor until he felt a large shard pierce his bare foot.

"Ah! F---!" He swore again, jerking his foot back. Grabbing his ankle towards him, he pulled the shard out of his foot. Ignoring the pain and the sticky mess his blood was making, he held the piece of glass in his fingers, feeling its sharp edges. He sat for quite a while, just holding that broken glass in his hand, thinking about how easily it had cut him and how easy it would be to do it again. Two straight lines across the skin of his wrists would be all it would take to end all of this, he thought. But he would never have the guts to go through with it. He was in a state where he was too afraid to live like this, but too scared to do anything about it.

He was so entrenched in his own thoughts and despondency that he failed to hear the door being opened.

"Will?" A soft voice asked but he didn't respond.

Helen walked in when Will didn't answer and saw the back of his head from the opposite side of the bed.

"Are you alright?" She asked, walking around to where he sat silently. When she came near, she gave a sharp intake of breath. Will sat on the bare, wood floor with one leg stretched out and the other foot propped up on his opposite thigh, covered in blood and dripping into a small puddle on the floor. Will seemed to be in some of daze, his cloudy eyes staring sightlessly ahead, red rimmed and swollen still from his wounds. His fingers probed along the edges of a large shard of glass. From the angle with which he held it, she panicked a little, thinking that he was on the verge of cutting himself.

"Will! What are doing?" She crouched beside him. He startled at the sound of her voice, snapping out of his reverie and dropped the glass. "What happened?" She asked.

"Magnus?..." he began, stumbling over his words in embarrassment, hanging his head in shame and exhaustion. He felt drained. "I ...uh...dropped a glass."

"I see that." She said as she grabbed a napkin from his food tray and used it staunch the blood. "It's a deep cut. You might need a stitch or two." She grabbed his arm to help him up. "C'mon, Let's get you to the infirmary and patch this up."

"No!" He with more force than was necessary, shrugging out of her hold. Immediately he felt ashamed for his outburst, but the thought of leaving the safety and shelter of his room and exposing himself to the pity of the others in the manor was almost too much for him to bear. "Sorry....Can't we just stay here?"

Helen was perplexed by his behavior, but went along with his request, leaving him for a moment to call Bigfoot for a med-kit and to collect a towel from the bathroom to clean up Will's foot.

She sat down beside Will again and he was silent and unnaturally subdued as she tended to him. He seemed to hardly move a muscle as Bigfoot arrived and delivered the med-kit to Helen. Bigfoot looked to her questioningly, wanting to help but she waved him off and he left the room. She carefully stitched up his cut then dressed it with a bandage. When she was finished he remained in the same position he had when she first came in. His face held a sadness and grief that she had seen before many times herself in the mirror after she had seen friend after friend die over the years, even her own daughter. It was the look of a loss so profound that it failed description. She reached a hand out to touch his shoulder and he flinched slightly at her unexpected consoling touch, but relaxed as she gripped it tighter.

"Will...."

"Don't, Magnus." He shook his head in dejection.

"Don't what?"

"Don't try to make me feel better, I don't want your pity. Don't tell me that everything is going to be alright, because it's not...ever. You and I both know that."

"We don't know that Will. I'm doing my best to find a cure for you."

"Why? What's the point?" He asked in a rising voice, letting the anger go unchecked. "Why can't you just accept that I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life. I have, you should too."

"I refuse to accept that Will. The answer is out there. I know it." She argued back.

"Know you don't." He nearly shouted pronouncing each word with percussive agitation.

Helen was taken aback by his vehemence and anger. She backed up a little and let her hand drop from his shoulder with a defeated sigh.

Will's head bowed and he closed his eyes, breathing heavily from the outburst as an exhaustion overtook him. He hadn't meant to be so harsh to her, but he just couldn't hold it back anymore. He had been holding it in for so long now and he was tired from the effort.

His despair hung like a cloak between the two of them and the two were silent. Helen thought at first that it might be best to just leave him and give him some time alone, but she knew that his self-imposed isolation would only make matters worse. She crept closer to him, sidling up to his side so they sat shoulder to shoulder.

"Don't give up now, Will." She pleaded soothingly.

"How?" He asked, his voice rasping as his breath caught against the constriction closing in on his throat. He fought against the tears that pricked behind his eyes, but the tide was coming up and when Magnus wrapped her arms around him, he was powerless to stop the dam from bursting. The warmth of her body as she held him, even the smell of her hair, suddenly brought back another memory from long ago, to another time when he was hurting; the day she rescued him, but failed to save his mother. He didn't want to think about that, but that memory's image combined with the onslaught of emotion made him feel as helpless and lost as he had been at eight years old and suddenly all alone in the world.

He felt her hold him closer and the last, tightly wound string holding his control in check snapped and he fell into her embrace, burying his face into her shoulder as he let the tears and sobs came unbidden. He allowed the torrent to come, soaking Magnus' shirt, but she paid it no mind, knowing that this release was something he needed

"I can't so this, Magnus." he sniffed softly as the waves of tears continued. She held him tighter.

"Yes you can. We'll do it together."

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Again, sorry it takes me so long to write and update this story. I wish I was a little faster at it, but free time has become hard to find lately. Anyway, thanks again for all of the feedback y'all have given me so far, it's all been so very encouraging. :D_**

**Part IV**

"One, two, three, four, five, six....hallway. Right turn. Good. Keep counting."

Will paused and took a deep sigh. "Do I have to count it out loud?"

"Yes. It will help you to remember."

"Fine." He grumbled, taking a step he counted as he walked forward, gripping Magnus' hand tight as if letting go would mean he would be hopelessly lost. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven."

Okay, stop." She ordered. Will did as he was instructed. "Now turn right, there's the door right in front of you." Will turned and reached out, stepping forward a little until his hand made contact with the smooth wood.

"We're here. Now tell me how we got here, remember the steps."

Will threw his head back and sighed again, thinking back

"C'mon, I know you remember." She prodded him.

"We took ten steps from my door to the right, Ahhh, um..." He strained to recall. "Sixteen steps to the left down the hallway, then right to the next hall, seventeen steps then turn right, six steps forward to the hallway and eleven steps to this door."

"Perfect. I think you have it now."

"Great." He breathed sarcastically. "I can now make it from my room to the dining room, do I get a cookie now?"

"Don't be discouraged, Will. It's going to take some time. You've already learned the routes to the kitchen, Henry's lab and my office all in one go. I'd say you're doing quite well for our first day." She opened the door for him and tugged him gently to lead him inside. "Come, let's have a little break. Tea should be ready."

He followed Magnus into the dining room and she let go of his hand. "Uh, Magnus?"

"We're in the dining room, Will. You've been in here many, many times, tell me how the room's laid out."

"Well, there's the table with eight chairs around it, china cabinet in the corner and the door to the lounge is at the back to the right."

"Good. Think it in your head and follow me to the lounge."

Will stood still at her suggestion, knowing that even with a mental picture of the room in his head, he would most likely run into the nearest chair and make a fool out of himself.

"C'mon then, tea's getting cold." She cajoled him, walking to the door to the lounge and opening it, watching him as he took his first tentative step. Will tried to picture the room in his mind and found the way to the door with somewhat ease, even as his hip bumped into one of the chairs on the way he still managed to find the door with Magnus beside it.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Will hated this. They had spent the entire afternoon walking all over the place when he would have rather have stayed in bed. Magnus had been insistent though and when she set her mind on a course of action, there wasn't any saying 'no' to her. However, he had to admit that learning to find a way around the enormous manor was a necessity he would have to endure. He walked into the lounge and then straight into the couch, cursing a little on the inside for not thinking about where he was going.

Helen took a seat on the sofa and was pleased to see the tea had already been set out on the coffee table for them as she had requested. She grabbed the pot, pouring each of them a cup. Will used his hands to guide himself along the edge of the couch cushions and slid into the spot beside of her.

"Here you are then." She said, handing him the cup and saucer. He reached out for it and she placed it into his hand.

"Thanks." He said taking a small sip. He wasn't much of a tea fan, but the warm liquid was refreshing.

"How's your foot?"

"Fine. Doesn't really hurt anymore."

"Good."

They were silent for a few moments as they both drank, but Will had the sinking suspicion that Magnus wanted to do more than just share a cup of tea with him and moments later she confirmed it.

"We need to talk, Will." She began, setting down her tea cup and he groaned inwardly. "About yesterday...."

"I'm fine...really." He tried to convince her, but on some level knew that he wasn't sounding very sincere.

"Will, you've been through something very traumatic and I know it can't be easy for you. You know you can talk to me, right?"

He set his cup onto the table then leaned back into the couch, crossing his arms across his chest as if in a protective manner. In some ways he wanted to open up to her, let her in on how he was feeling yet at the same time it seemed like an impossible thing for him to do. Last night he felt as though he would never be able to cry a single tear more and when he woke this morning he felt refreshed and better than he had in days, but now he was finding himself on the verge of yet another emotional outburst. As if that wasn't enough, he felt somewhat ashamed and embarrassed for breaking down in front of Magnus like he had and he didn't want it to happen again.

"You don't know what this is like." He sighed barely managing to constrain his feelings of anger and grief.

"Perhaps not. But I have known quite a bit of loss over the course of the years." She placed a reassuring hand on his knee. "But I've had to go on, watching friends grow old and die while I remain. Eventually, you learn to deal with the cards life has dealt you and take each day as it comes with a firm determination to see the next."

Will took that in. Last night he had been on a precipice and convinced that life crippled with blindness would be impossible. But she was right, she had endured much over her extremely long lifespan, yet she was still as steadfastly resolved to greet each day as a new blessing. While she might not know what it is like to go blind, he could feel her sincere empathy and for once he felt that they shared a common pain. It may not make him feel like jumping for joy, but at least he didn't feel so alone. He grinned wryly and touched her hand still resting on his knee in a gesture of thanks.

"This must be the good 'ol British stiff upper lip speech, huh?"

"Don't discount it. Just who do you think gave Churchill that advice during the blitzkrieg?" She pointed out, teasing him slightly.

His grin widened a bit at that, her constant name-dropping lightening his attitude, it almost made him feel normal for a moment.

"Of course you did. I should have known." He came back sarcastically. Helen couldn't help but smile seeing Will drawing closer to who he normally was, even his sarcasm was a welcome blessing.

He felt her hand wrap around his and give it a squeeze. "But seriously, Will. Don't let this defeat you...You're stronger than that." He was somewhat surprised to find his own hand squeezing hers back, wishing he could believe that.

Helen let go of his hand and decided that now was as good a time as any to let him in on her plans for the evening.

"How would you like to join me for an evening out tonight? A violinist friend of mine gave me a couple of tickets for a symphony concert. I hadn't planned on using them, but I think it would do us both some good to get out of this place for a couple of hours."

"A concert?....I don't know..." He groaned. "That's not really my thing." He claimed, when all he could think about was how much he didn't want to go out in public. He had no idea what his eyes looked like, but he knew they had to look pretty bad and the last thing he wanted was for everyone see him like that.

"Don't worry. It will be fun. Be ready by seven o'clock sharp."

XXXXXX

Henry rounded the corner, trying to juggle a six pack and his laptop in one hand as he walked. When he made it to the door, he gave a quick knock with his free hand and waited for an answer. He was worried at first that Will wasn't in, but when he heard the faint 'come in' he turned the knob and let himself in.

Not seeing Will at first, he called out to him. "Will?"

"In here." Came his voice from the bathroom.

"Oh." Henry saw that the door was open, so he walked in and dumped his laptop and beer on the bed and walked over to it.

"Hey, ya know it's Saturday and all and I'm all done with my system upgrades, so I was just thinking that we should hang-" and was surprised to see Will in just his boxers, holding a can of shaving cream while feeling around for his razor.

"What ya doin?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to shave, but I can't find my razor." He came back in irritation.

"Here..I got it." Henry stated as he found the razor at the other end of the sink and handed it to his friend.

Henry watched as Will lathered and spread the shaving cream over his face. He winced a little seeing Will apply the razor to his face and pulling at the stubble.

"You need any help?" He asked innocently enough, unprepared for Will's angry reaction.

"I've been shaving for long enough to know how to do this, okay?"

"Sorry, man. I just...ya know..."

Will sighed and paused in his shaving. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite your head off. It's just that I feel like everyone's treating me like a child, you know what I mean?" Henry felt ashamed and conceded Will's point.

"I get it. I do." He said. "So what's with the sprucing up?"

"Uhhggg. Magnus wants to take me to the symphony tonight. Truth be told, I'd rather sit around drinking beer with you, but she has her mind set on this."

"Symphony? Dude... She tried to take to one of those things once. I fell asleep before the intermission." He placed a sympathetic hand on Will's shoulder. "Sorry, Man."

"Oh well, I guess it could be worse." He finished up cleaning up his chin of hair and washed his face. He had to concede that Henry's help wasn't all that unwanted. "Did I get it all?" He asked of his friend.

"Let me see." Henry stepped in closer and inspected his face. "Missed as spot by your ear, but I don't think anyone will notice."

"Good enough for me." Will grinned. Henry hadn't seen will smile since he came back from Brazil and the sight had him smiling as well. Magnus must have worked her charms on him.

"Damn. I was kinda hoping to share some of this Heineken with you."

"Go drink it with Kate." Will suggested.

"Kate?" Henry groaned. "She's the last person, I'd want to spend my night off with."

Will had to grin a bit at that. He may not be able to see, but he wasn't too blind to notice the obvious attraction Henry had to their new team member and the way they bickered like an old married couple only confirmed it. Henry went on with his rant. "She's rude, crass, messy and above all, she has terrible taste in music."

"Just like two peas in a pod." Will muttered to himself.

"What?" Henry asked, barely catching what Will had said.

"Nothing. Go on-I'm sure she could use some company tonight. You know, keep her out of trouble."

"Right. Like that's even possible."

"Hey... could you do me a favor and grab my black suit out of the closet?" Will asked as he fumbled around for his toothbrush, finding it and loading it up with toothpaste.

"Sure." Henry left the bathroom and went to the closet for the suit picking up a pair of dress shoes, socks and dress shirt along the way. He handed the shirt to Will first then hung the suit on the door hanger and placed the shoes by Will's feet.

"Need any help?" Henry asked. Will grumbled again.

"No. I _can_ dress myself."

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

"A little. But thanks anyway."

"Well, I guess I'll go. See ya later." Henry waved, forgetting that the gesture wasn't anything that Will could see. He grabbed his laptop and beer off of the bed and made for the door, stepping out only to run almost smack dab into Magnus.

"Whoa, Doc." Henry couldn't help but gawk at the sight of her. On a normal day she was beautiful, but dressed to the nines with her hair up and face perfectly made-up, she looked stunning. "You look awesome."

"Thank-you, Henry."

"So, going to the symphony, eh?"

"Yes. Were you hoping to come along?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye, remembering Henry's snoring during the last concert she took him to.

"Oh gee. Ya know, that sounds like so much fun, but, uh...whoa, look at the time. I gotta go, I was going to hang out with Kate tonight." He wanted to kick himself for saying that, but at least it was better than spending the night bored to tears.

"Good. Have a nice time."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be a blast." He said, sounding somewhat defeated as he took off. Helen couldn't help but smile at his retreating back.

She again turned to the door and gave a knock. She heard the faint "come in" from within and opened the door. Will was still in the bathroom, dressed in only his dress slacks.

"I certainly hope that's not what you're wearing tonight." She joked.

Will looked a little surprised to see he. "Magnus? Oh..." He blushed and quickly found his white undershirt and pulled it over his head. "I thought you were Henry again."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you. I didn't know you weren't ready yet."

"Uh..just give me a sec." He hurried to close the bathroom door and put on the rest of his clothes and shoes. When he was finished, he walked out to the room where Helen stood waiting.

"Am I presentable now?" He grinned sheepishly.

"Much better." She replied. "However, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Yeah. I need to get a tie."

"I'll get you one." She offered and went to his closet and picked out a smart, black silk one. She handed to him and he wrapped it around his neck, attempting to form the correct knot.

"This was a lot easier when I could see what I was doing." He complained.

Helen stepped forward and took the tie from him. "Here, let me."

She took over for him, tying the knot perfectly before cinching it up to Will's neck and folding the collars down over it. "There. That should do just nicely."

"You know I just admonished Henry for trying to help me get dressed."

"Not even men with the ability to see can tie a necktie the right way. I used to help my father with his all of the time. The man is a genius and a master surgeon, but he could not tie a knot to save himself."

"He's not the only one. I wore clip-ons until I graduated from college. " He agreed while loosening the tie up just a bit where it constricted his throat a little too much. "I was just never a big fan of these things."

"I for one think you look smashing and you clean up quite nicely."

Will smiled a little at the compliment, but let his face fall remembering how he must truly look to others and once again he felt self-conscious and wanted out of their expedition to the symphony. He thought it strange how he never felt any fear before going all over the globe with Magnus, but one trip downtown and he was suddenly full of trepidation.

"What is it?" Magnus asked, seeing his concerned expression.

"It's...just that..."

"You're worried how you look to others?"

"Yeah. I guess I don't want to scare anyone or have them...you know-"

"I doubt you could scare anyone." She pointed out before realizing how that must have sounded to him and when he pulled an feigned insulted face, she covered her slip by continuing. "Not that you can't be intimidating when the need arises, of course. Well, I for one think you will be just fine and to hell what others think. But if you want to be more comfortable, you could wear a pair of sunglasses."

It wasn't a perfect solution and nothing quite pointed out that he was a blind man more than a pair of sunglasses worn in the dark, but at least he wouldn't disgust anyone with his appearance. He walked over to his nightstand, recalling that he had a pair in the top drawer of it. He felt around inside the drawer until he felt the plastic frames and pulled them out, placing them on his face.

Feeling a little more confident with them on, but still somewhat reluctant to go out, he swallowed his anxiety and when he felt Magnus' hand wrap around his arm, he allowed her to lead him out.

XXXXXX

The evening was fairly cool and Helen was glad for the warmth of the building as they entered the foyer to the auditorium. Will on the other hand was still on edge and felt as though he could feel the eyes of everyone on him. Worse still was having to be led around, holding tightly to Magnus' arm like a toddler to its mother.

"Looks like the concert shall be well attended tonight." Magnus commented as throngs of people milled about before entering the auditorium proper. She caught several people staring at the two of them, but she ignored them and tugged on Will to guide him toward the doors and to their seats. Will had seemed uptight to her up until the point where they could sit down and he could let go of her arm.

Once in his seat, Will relaxed a little now that he no longer had to worry about stumbling around or fear tripping over unseen objects. He had never appreciated how much simpler just getting around was when he could see where he was going, it had been as natural as breathing abd he knew that sooner or later he would have to learn how to get by on his own without anyone like Magnus to lead him around.

"I do hope you enjoy this." Magnus began as the orchestra began to tune up, the cacophony of the differing voices of the symphony filling the hall.

"I'll admit that classical music was never my favorite."

"Well, it won't hurt to expand your musical horizons a little."

"So what's playing tonight?" Will asked. Magnus pulled out her program.

"Well first there's the Elgar cello concerto in E minor followed by Vaughn Williams' Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis then there's intermission and Dvorak's 8th symphony. I'm sure you will enjoy this." She added. "I was at the London premier of Tallis Fantasia in 1910, it's a wonderful piece."

Will was going to come back with a snide comment about how Magnus seemed to be present for just about everything in history when a hush fell over the auditorium and the orchestra quieted. A moment later the audience began to clap and he felt compelled to do the same, though he had no idea why he was clapping.

"What's going on?" Will had to whisper to Magnus in confusion after the applause subsided.

"The concertmaster has taken the stage, that is the first chair of the first violin section and he will lead the tuning of the symphony."

"Didn't they already tune?"

"Well yes, but this is the formal tuning. After they have finished with the tuning, the conductor will take the stage, then the concert will begin." As if on cue the orchestra tuned and then the audience began to clap again for the conductor as he took to the stage and bowed. Without the benefit of seeing what was going on, Will felt like someone involved with a religious ritual without knowing the motions that came with it and he tried his best to follow along.

The concert began with a cello concerto. To Will it was well played and had some nice parts to it, but it really wasn't his cup of tea and he clapped politely with the rest of the audience at the end. However the stirring melodies of the next piece triggered a memory deep within.

He must have been only six or seven years old when he heard it. His mother had been listening to it on the little turntable record player she would pull out occasionally and she had seemed so sad to him that he had crawled into her lap and looked up into her face to see tears welling up in her eyes.

_"Why are you sad, mommy?"_ He had asked her.

_"Because it's so beautiful and sometimes beautiful things can make you cry. But I'm not sad, sweetie, I just love this song, but not as much as I love you."_ He remembered the warmth of her body as she hugged him and held him close as the strings played on.

Now he understood how she had felt then. The mellow tone of the viola and violin playing a meloncholy duet while the rest of the orchestra seemed to move underneath them in melodic phrases like waves lapping on the shore, was something he had never quite experienced before. He found a peace and a serenity from the memory it stirred, that feeling of safeness he felt with her that he wanted to capture and hold inside forever, but as the final chord faded away, he felt that calmness inside drifting off along with it and he was back to himself again. If anything, he felt a little empty afterward.

"You okay, Will?" Magnus asked, intruding in on his thoughts after the applause died down. "You seem a little distant there."

"Uh...I'm fine." He muttered.

"Alright." She said, not entirely believing him. "It's intermission now. I need to used the restroom...do you need to..."

"Oh no." He replied quickly not wanting to be led to the men's room. "I'll be fine here."

"I'll be back in just a few minutes." She said, getting up and carefully walking around the theatre seats to the walkway and out into the foyer where much of the audience milled around until the intermission was over. She was heading directly for the ladies room when a figure came walking towards her from the corner of her vision. Feeling a prickling feeling course up and down her spine, she spun around to see who it was stalking her.

She groaned audibly when she saw who it was heading for her with a sardonic smile gracing his lips.

She put her hands on her hips in frustration as he came to a stop in front of her. Why did he have to come and ruin a perfectly nice evening? She wondered.

"Well my, don't you look ravishing tonight, Helen." He complimented her while the smile on his face grew.

"Nikola, what the hell are you doing here?"

TBC.....


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Wow, I can't believe I actually managed to not spend two weeks writing this next chapter. Thanks again for the reviews, they're like chocolate to my soul. :D_

**Part V**

"Nice to see you too, Helen." Nikola replied sarcastically, then asked. "Are you here alone tonight?"

"No. Not that it's any of your business."

"Ahhh. Let me guess you've brought one of your young hangers-on with you. What's the matter Helen, couldn't find a babysitter?" At Helen's obvious discomfort, Nikola let his leery smile grow. "Which it is this time...Henry?" Then he asked more pointedly and with more than just a hint of jealousy. "Will?

"Like I said, it's none of your business and I thought I asked you what you were doing here?"

"What? Can't a guy attend a performance?" Tesla came back, still wearing that irritating grin. "You know I've always been a fan of Dvorák."

"You know what I mean."

"Truly, I just happened to be in town and heard about the concert tonight and thought it would be a delight and then I saw you and that has made the evening all the better. It's purely kismet that we both decided to come tonight. By the way, love your hair when it's up like that, brings out the fire in your eyes."

Helen cocked her head to the side, unaffected by his flattery and folded her arms across her chest, not believing a single word that escaped from his lips.

"I find that astonishingly hard to believe."

"What do you want me to say, that I hacked into your e-mail account to find out what you've been up to lately?"

Helen's eyebrows rose and her face gave way to anger. "That is what you did, isn't it?" Nikola smugly held out his hands as a reply. "How did you get past our security or more importantly, why?"

"Well, the 'how' was easy. Henry really should work on improving his firewalls, I mean they're good enough for most, but not for me. The 'why' is more interesting since you never call or write-"

"Just tell me." She demanded, cutting him off.

"Alright. Alright." He sighed. "If you must know, things haven't exactly been peachy for me lately. After the fiasco that was Mexico, I've had to sell off many of my assetts to recoup the losses I suffered there."

"And this concerns me how?" She asked, torn between feeling sympathy for a man that had once been a good friend and vindication for the trouble he not only caused her, but the young people he tried to turn into vampires.

"Let me finish, Helen." He continued. "Since then, it's not only financial difficulties that have plagued me, but being a human magnet has had many drawbacks as well."

"Such as?"

"Such as, being unable to work with small electronic components when they become attracted to my hands, depolarizing magnetic fields that I'm researching, I even had to have my personal computer modified so I could use it without frying the hardrive whenever I came near it. It's been very frustrating for a man in my field of expertise."

"None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for your foolhardy experiment. As far as I'm concerned, you've brought much of this hardship on yourself." She retorted, any sympathy she had felt for him at first beginning to fade.

"That's not the worst of it. Look at me!" He demanded, pointing to himself.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" She asked, her patience wearing thinner by the second.

"Right here." He pointed to the hair near his sideburns. She still couldn't see what he was pointing to until he said it for her. "Grey hair....I have grey hair now. It's only been a few weeks since my vampirism was taken from me and I'm already beginning to age. At this rate, I'll be an old and feeble man soon."

"I'd say you still look pretty good for a man of over 150 years."

"I'm not ready to face my mortality just yet, Helen. I need your help."

"My help?" She stared at him incredulously. "I searched all avenues to restore your vampire traits to you already, you know that there is little I can do."

"See, that's where you're wrong. I've been working on a project of my own design that I'm almost certain can reverse my situation and once again restore me to my proper state, the problem is that...well with my funds lacking and much of my equipment now hocked to pay the bills, I need an advanced and well stocked lab to see my ideas come to fruition."

"Why exactly should I help you? If anything, you proved that you are reckless in your science, you experiment on unwitting children and even tried to kill me." Helen hadn't realized how much her voice had risen until several people turned to look in her direction and she reigned in her anger, dropping her voice low and menacing. "I will not help you on your insane desire to repopulate the world with vampires, not now, not ever."

She turned to walk away, but Tesla grabbed her arm."Wait." He pleaded.

Spinning around angrily, she snatched her arm back. "Keep you hands off of me."

He raised his hands in a gesture of acceptance and mock apology. "What if I told you that what I've been working on could not only benefit me, but your young protege Will as well." At the sight of her change in facial expression, he knew that he had her attention and continued. "Yes. I know about Will's accident. Read your e-mails, remember?" He suddenly changed, dropping his haughty attitude for the briefest of seconds, reminding Helen of the friend she once had many years ago. "Just give me a chance....please. That's all I'm asking for right now. I'll send you all of my research and you can decide if it's worthy or not."

Helen stood indecisively. He was notoriously hard to refuse, but she had been fooled by him many times before. He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her before she could respond either way.

"Here's my new number while I'm in town. Call me after you've looked it all over."

He walked off after that without giving her the benefit of a response. She huffed and sighed before turning the card over in her fingers and reading the new pseudonym he had chosen for himself.

"Dr. Douglas Howser." She read out loud to herself, shaking her head and tsking. "Nikola, Nikola, Nikola."

Her next order of business was to pull out her phone and dial. She barely waited for an answer before she started speaking urgently. "Henry, we need to talk about your firewalls...."

XXXXXX

After the concert was over, Helen drove back with Will in the passenger seat wondering what was keeping her so quiet. She had barely said two words to him since she came back from the intermission and he was picking up on some very strong vibes that something was wrong and unsettling to her.

"So, that was a good performance. I liked it more than I thought I would." He tried to pick up a conversation.

"Uh huh." Was all she replied distractedly. Now he knew for sure that her mind was preoccupied.

"You know...I was thinking about rollerskating across the Grand Canyon or maybe doing one of those cool jump things over twenty buses on a dirt bike. What do you think?" He asked.

"Mm hmm" She agreed absently, not paying a lick of attention to him, it was like he wasn't even there.

"Hello? Earth to Magnus." He asked, almost getting annoyed.

"Huh?" She finally snapped out of her reverie.

"What's going on? You mad about something?"

"No...I'm sorry. My mind was elsewhere. What were you saying?"

"It wasn't anything important." Concerned at her unusual reticence, he had to ask "What's wrong?" .

"It's nothing. We had a security breach in our computer network, but Henry's working on it." She wasn't about to tell him yet about her run-in with Nikola. She could just imagine how furious he would be if she told him that she was actually considering examining his work to see if there was indeed any potential for it to be of any real help for Will. To say that Will and Nikola didn't get along congenially would be an understatement, so she kept the fact that she had seen him to herself.

Once they arrived back at the sanctuary, Bigfoot met them at the door and took their coats. "Would you please see Will to his room, I have some important work to attend to." Without any further explanation, Magnus took off for her lab, leaving Will and the Big-guy in her wake.

"What did you do?" Bigfoot asked, not bothering to hide the accusation in his voice.

"Me?" Will asked with incredulity.

"She's obviously upset."

"I don't know what's going on." Will countered, throwing his hands up. "We were having a good time and then suddenly she's like she is now. She mentioned something about a computer breach and said Henry was fixing it. You know anything about that?"

"I do not. We could go to see Henry and find out." Bigfoot suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Will agreed, wanting to find out what might have set Magnus off.. "Lead the way, Big-guy."

They wound through the long corridors of the manor until they reached Henry's lab. Hearing shouts coming from behind the closed door, Will could make out Kate and Henry bickering once again. Bigfoot grumbled at the noise and pushed his way through the door, so engrossed in their argument were the two of them that neither of them noticed their visitors.

"You only won because you totally cheated." Henry whined, but Will could hear the laughter in his voice.

"I so did not. It's called superior fight skills. I got them and you don't." Kate shot back. "You're just mad that I beat you at your own video game. You're such a baby."

"I am not. And when I'm done with this, I'm so gonna kick you ass in a rematch."

"The only ass that's gonna get kicked is yours."

Will shuffled into the lab after Bigfoot and at the grunt from his guide, Kate and Henry looked up to finally notice the two of them.

"Oh hey, guys." Henry greeted them. "You're back early, Will."

"Yeah, well I guess Magnus is pretty mad about whatever went wrong with the computer security."

Henry drew in a quick draw of breath with a hiss. "Damn...ya know, I spent weeks creating the new firewalls for the computer systems, they should have been hack-proof."

"But someone got in anyway?"

"Yeah...I didn't even notice until Magnus called to let me know."

"Magnus called you to tell you that someone hacked into the system?"

"Yeah, while you guys were at the concert."

Will frowned in confusion. Except for the few minutes she had been gone during the intermission, Magnus had been with him the whole time. "But how did Magnus know that someone broke into the system if even you didn't know?"

"You got me. All I know is that I had to do some digging just to find where they broke in from. Turns out they covered their tracks pretty well, I probably would have never noticed if she hadn't said anything. At least now I know where the weakness in the program was and I can fix it. I tell you what though, whoever it was that hacked us had to be some kind of damned genius."

"A genius, huh?" That got Will to thinking. How many technological geniuses did he know that would be able to bypass even Henry's complex computer security? To his mind one he could only think of one.

XXXXX

Helen poured through the research that Nikola had already sent to her. The more she read and the more she examined his technical schematics, the more she became interested. It was truly inspired work, inspired no doubt by his own selfish desires, but is was brilliant nonetheless.

A knock at the door jerked her from her work her and she quickly minimized the program before answering with a quick "Come-in"

She was surprised to see Will enter and walk in, hesitating a little before coming in further. While she was at once pleased to see that Will had made it to her office unaided, she wasn't happy by the look on his face. Though he was still wearing the sunglasses he had put on earlier in the evening, she could make out the anger and concern marked there.

"Will? I thought you had gone to your room."

"We decided to see Henry first and see what was wrong with the computers. It was interesting to find out that it was you that called him to let him know there was a problem."

Helen sighed and leaned back in her chair resting her head against the headrest.

"How did you find out about the problem before he did?" Will asked pointedly.

"Will..."

"Henry seems to think that whomever broke into the system had to be some kind of super-technological mastermind and when I think of anyone we might know that fits the bill, only one name comes to mind."

Helen knew the jig was up then and she decided to come clean about her run-in with Nikola.

"Alright. I wasn't going to say anything because I knew how upset you would be, but Nikola was at the concert and we spoke. He admitted to hacking into my emails."

Will dropped his head and shook it. "I knew it...that damn bastard..." Will muttered angrily.

"Please, Will. He had his reasons." Seeing him agitated, she stood and crossed the room to stand in front of him.

"What reasons could he have for that other than to rub in the fact that he could break in here with impunity."

"It's not like that." She grabbed Will's elbow and led him over to a chair. "Please have seat and I'll explain it to you."

Will sat, crossing his arms, waiting for her to begin.

"He was asking for my help."

"Your help? What kind of help?"

"He has an experiment he wants to use the lab here for."

"An experiment? You know that any experiment he has floating around in his head is one where he can somehow find a way towards global domination. I mean c'mon Magnus, the guy is the basis for all of the cliched mad scientist movies out there. Don't tell me you're actually thinking about letting him in here?"

At her silence, Will became even more worried. "You're not, are you?

"He sent me the bulk of his research, but he doesn't have the money or the equipment to follow through with it. To be honest, this is why I didn't want to say anything about to you, because I knew how much you distrust him, but the research is solid and if it is applicable, it could have a significant benefit to all of mankind."

"What kind of experiment are we talking about here? Oh, let me guess...it has something to do with turning the world into vampires?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"Nanotechnology."

"You mean tiny robots?"

"Sort of. He believes that he can create these nano-bots from organic materials, making them as powerful and as fast as a silicon microchip with over 40 million transistors yet the entire thing would only be the size of a single-celled organism. They could self-replicate and be programed to perform specific functions, repair damaged tissue, kill cancer cells, even regenrate damaged nerve cells. Granted, he wants to use them to help regain the vampire traits he lost, but the medical implications for such a technology could far outweigh the risks. Imagine a world with no cancer, a cure for paralysis." She took a deep breath before mentioning the last bit. "Even a cure for you."

At that Will was silent for a few heartbeats before he had to ask the obvious. "And you trust him to do this? Why do I get the feeling that he's playing you somehow. It all sounds a little too good to be true. Believe me, I want to get my sight back...more than anything. But trusting Tesla? I'm not sure I can buy into that."

"I know. I'm having difficulty with that myself. And for all of the benefits that this technology might have, if it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used in terrible ways as well. Imagine a programmable virus that could attack specific people or worse, a bio-weapon that could kill millions. Indeed, I still have much I need to research before I reach any sort of decision."

"I don't know Magnus." Will sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to process all that he had just learned. "I'm not sure I like this much."

"Me either, but if there is a chance that this technology could help you to see again, I feel I owe it to you to thoroughly examine it and give Nikola the benefit of the doubt."

"Owe it to me? You don't owe me anything, Magnus. It's not like any of this is your fault."

Helen felt her stomach drop and suddenly wished that she had chosen her words more carefully. She felt a tightness in her chest, but she knew she had to tell Will the truth, maybe then he would understand why this was so important to her and why she was so desperate to find a way to help him.

"Will-" She started as she fought to find the right way of putting things. "That's not entirely true."

"W-what?. That's crazy. I was attacked by a creature. That's not your fault"

"No. You don't understand. I have been less than forthcoming about all that happened in Brazil. I thought it was for the best that you didn't recall what had occured, but I am just as responsible for your blindness as that creature."

"How?"

"That day...we had an argument. I said things that were totally uncalled for and I hurt your feelings. You went off into the forest on your own to get away from me, no doubt. That's when the runner attacked you. If I had only been with you, I could have neutralized it sooner and none of this would have happened. That's why I have vowed to myself and now to you that I _will_ find a way to right this for you and why I am even considering allowing Nikola to use the lab for his experiment."

Will shook his head in disbelief, he couldn't believe what she was telling him. "So..." He gulped back a wave of emotion, feeling his anger bubbling up. "I don't understand why you just couldn't tell me all of this before. I thought you trusted me, but now I see that you just wanted to help me because you feel guilty about what happened. Is that it?"

"No, Will. Of course not."

"I just- I don't know...." He stood up from the chair and turned his back on her, he hated the that she had kept this from him more than the fact that she must have made him angry enough that day for him to storm off. It was the lack of trust in his capability to handle that information that hurt the most. He may be blind, that much was true, but he was no delicate flower that was would break if handled improperly.

"Will, please. Let's talk about this. At least let me help-"

"I don't need any help." He shot back. "I need some time to think." He moved across the room to make a quick escape, not bothering to count his steps and holding his hands out until he found the door and opened it.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room. Where else can I go?" With that he walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.

TBC.....


	6. Chapter 6

Part VI

Will stood near his window, from his room on the second floor he always had a nice view of the garden below. It was a sight that he had thought beautiful and relaxing before, but now all he could do was reach out and touch the window, feeling it's cold smoothness under his fingertips and remembering what it looked like.

A steady rain was beginning to fall. He could feel the vibrations of the droplets hitting the window and he could visualize the streaks of water trailing down the pane. The sound of the rain splashing and patting against the window seemed appropriate as his spirits fell with the gentle fall of the water to the earth.

This lead to him thinking about all that he was missing out on without his sight to guide him. He would never see the rain again and he longed to see the garden, to see the opening buds of the roses and the see the shadows casting on the ground as the sun shone down. Tesla could possibly be the answer to his pain and to his longing, but the fear was there, sitting just outside his mind. The fear that he was being selfish, that his desire to see again might spell the doom for the rest of mankind and if that was the case, indeed he would rather spend the rest of his days in darkness.

Then there was Magnus. Sure, she hadn't lied to him, but omission of the truth was just as much of a lie as a blatant falsehood, wasn't it? He knew that she was trying to protect him from hurting his feelings anymore and with the flux of emotions he had been dealing with lately, he could concede that she had only been acting in his best interest. But at the same time, he had thought that they had come to a point where keeping secrets from each other was gone. He was a psychiatrist after all, he knew the human condition, he knew that people kept secrets for a reason,either to protect themselves or others, yet it still hurt to know that she had kept the fact that the two of them had fought before the creature had attacked. He had thought that she trusted him, but was it all something of the past now?

While his memory of that day was still fuzzy, he was quite sure that if they had had an argument that there was a good chance that he might have provoked it. Before all of this, he had been testy with Magnus, still struggling to come to terms with his old life and his new one within the sanctuary. Then he had wanted somewhat of a life outside the confines of these walls and had been reaching out to escape the scope of the abnormal world if only for a little while. But now he wasn't sure if it hadn't just been a way to rebel against Magnus and her strict adherence to her principles.

Will heard a knock at the door and he knew who it was. He was reluctant to answer, wanting only to crawl back into his hole of solitude, but without his permission to enter, he heard the door opening.

He heard her footsteps cross the floor and stop only a few feet away from him.

"Will-" The sound her voice uttering his name in a voice that held such regret had him turning from the window to face her. "It was never my intention to hurt you. I'm truly sorry if I have."

"Magnus..." He started. "It's not that you think that it's all you fault that this whole thing has happened. It's that you held what you were feeling back from me. I thought that we were supposed to be equals here, trusting each other....but I guess that was all before-"

"Now, hold on a moment."

"Let me ask you something...would you have told me about Tesla if I hadn't figured that he was the one to break into the computer systems?"

"Eventually. I only wished to keep it to myself until I had some idea of what he was actually offering. I certainly never intended to upset you. If any thing it was to keep you from unnecessary distress."

"You used to talk to me about everything that went on here...You would have told me if I wasn't blind because you thought I couldn't handle it, is that it?"

He turned away from her again, making his disgust of her decision known. She sighed and stepped closer, wanting to reach a hand out to him, but held back, choosing instead to just stand by his side and peer out the window.

"You're right."

"I am?" He asked genuinely surprised by her forthrightness.

"Indeed. I was treating you as if you were a child and you are clearly not. When I brought you on here it was not for your eyesight, but for your insight. Though it was remarkable how you could see things and pull them into a clear picture of a situation like putting a puzzle together, your mind is what I wanted most. To work with someone that would challenge me and keep things in perspective. Someone who could be my sounding board and tell when I was on the right path or straying from reason. I regret that I failed to remember that. I was too torn about the mistakes I made in Brazil to overcome my own shortsightedness, if I had been more forthcoming sooner, I am certain that you would have set me straight."

"Damn right." He murmured and she smiled a bit seeing his small return to humor.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, but I need to be involved. I don't want to be left from the loop anymore."

"I promise." She agreed truthfully. "I would love to have some those insights of yours into Nikola's research."

Will had to think about that for a moment. He certainly didn't trust Nikola as far a he could spit, but as he touched his hand to the window again and felt the rain pelt against it, we longed to see the streaks of water that he knew were there cascading and streaming down its outside surface. If it was possible should he not try? Was he being selfish if he did and it turned out that Tesla was indeed pulling the wool over their eyes?

"Take your time." Helen told him, picking up on his hesitance. She gripped his shoulder and gave it a quick reassuring squeeze before walking back to the door and opening it "However, I am going to keep looking into this and not because I feel guilty, but because you're my friend."

XXXXX

Dawn was approaching swiftly, the first rays of sunshine working their way feebly through the clouds and chasing the remains of the evening's rain-showers away. Helen yawned and stretched, feeling the fatigue that had built up in her shoulders from staying up all night to thoroughly examine Nikola's work.

She knew she should have gone to bed at some point last night, but she found that she just couldn't pull herself away from her research and now as the sun rose, she had nearly read every word and examined every document he had sent her. She was intrigued by it all, wary of course, since Nikola's methods often were a bone of contention for her, but the man was brilliant. That much could never be denied.

Helen paused to pull out the business card Nikola had given her. She was half tempted to call him right away, but after her talk with Will last night, she wasn't going to speak to the man until she had discussed it with him.

The door to her office opened and she looked up and smiled to see Bigfoot walk in bearing a tray of hot tea and breakfast pastries.

"Bless you. I was just thinking about how lovely it would be to have a spot of tea and some scones."

Bigfoot grunted in reply and set the tray by her side. "You didn't sleep?"

"How could I?"

"Easy, you get in bed and close your eyes."

"Ha-ha, very cheeky. No, my mind was running too fast for sleep, I'm afraid, but I managed to get much accomplished."

Bigfoot just nodded with his usual low grumble. "Would you be so kind as to fetch Will for me before breakfast this morning?" She asked of him.

"No need. I'm already here." Helen looked from her assistant to the door where Will stood with his hands in his pockets still dressed in his suit pants and dress shirt, but with the tie removed and the top few buttons undone. Judging by his ragged appearance, it looked like he got about as much sleep as she did that night.

"I was hoping I would get to speak with you this morning." She told Will. With a nod to Bigfoot, he walked out of the room and shut the door behind them so the two of them could speak.

"Have you been in here all night?" He asked as he strolled in, carefully making his way forward until he came into soft contact with a chair situated in front of Magnus' desk. He walked around to the front of it and took a seat.

"I wanted to get as much reading as I could before we spoke again."

"Yeah about that...I tossed it over and over again in my head last night. You know I don't trust Tesla....but, I trust you. So if you think that he's got something of merit, then I'm with you."

Helen smiled at his statement. She had felt that she might have lost some of his unwavering loyalty and devotion after her confession the previous night, but he was still standing by her and she felt a swelling in her heart of pride in her young protege. While others might have lost faith, he hadn't despite the circumstances.

"Thank-you, Will."

"So...I take it you've looked over everything. What's your opinion?"

"I think we should call Nikola."

XXXXXX

Nikola straightened his tie and brushed a minute speck of lint off his shoulder before running a hand through his hair and inspecting his appearance by his reflection in the door's window. Feeling presentable, he gave himself a grin and a wink then rang the doorbell, standing by and waiting to be greeted.

He smiled charmingly as the door opened, expecting Helen to be the one coming to allow him entry into the sanctuary, but when instead the bearded and snarling face of her furry butler showed himself on the other side, he let his smile fall into a sneer.

"I take it Helen couldn't be bothered to let me in, eh Sasquatch?"

A grunt was the only reply he received before the big guy turned his back on him and mumbled "Follow me."

He was led through the building and escorted to Helen's office where she sat with Will by her side. Tesla smiled and walked into the office. Bigfoot left the room but not before giving a low growl in Nikola's direction.

"So glad you called, Helen. I knew this would be something you would never be able to pass up."

"You certainly wasted no time getting here, Nikola." She commented, remaining in her seat, her face impassive.

"Well, if there's one thing I hate to do, it's waste time." He leered at her and Will bristled. Though he couldn't see Tesla, he could just imagine the smug smile on his face from the snideness in his voice.

"Can we just get this started already without the attitude?" Will asked of the man.

"Oh Dr. Zimmerman. So nice to see you there. Sorry, that you can't see me, I look great today."

Will's lip curled and Helen feared that the two of them would begin a war of words soon, so she placed a restraining hand on Will's forearm and turned to Nikola with a disapproving glare.

"That's enough. Sit down Nikola, we have a lot to discuss." Nikola held out his hands and walked over to the chair in front of her desk, taking a seat and then reaching into his coat pocket to fish out a sheet of paper which he unfolded and handed over to Helen.

"What's this?" She asked.

"I took the liberty of making a list of supplies and equipment that will be needed." Helen read over the list, her eyebrows raising up into her forehead.

"A personal assistant?"

"Of course. I'll need someone that can type my notes, make my coffee and etc."

"No." Helen furtively crossed it off the list and moved on. "A case of '47 Bordeaux?"

"I know you have one and how else do you expect me to work? Wine helps me concentrate."

"You may help yourself to any of the wine in the cellar, but not the Bordeaux, that's my personal favourite and you know it."

"I was just making sure you were paying attention."

Helen glanced up at Nikola with an expression of irritation, then skimmed down the list again before setting the paper aside.

"You should find all of the materials you need are in the lab, but there are a few conditions I have before I will allow access to it."

"Such as?"

"Such as, you will be supervised at all times when in the lab." Will interjected.

"Are you going to be my babysitter, Will? Won't it be a little hard for you to keep an eye on me such as you are?"

Helen broke in. "Nikola, given your history we need to take precautions that you won't be using the equipment here for anything other than the nano-robots you have designed."

"they're called nano-cytes, for your information." Tesla corrected her.

"Whatever you want to call them is the least of my concern. However, either Henry or I will need to accompany you to the lab and remain with you at all times while you are in there."

Tesla sighed and rolled his eyes in contempt, but settled his eyes on Helen. "Fine. Any other restrictions you want to place on my work? Will I be allowed potty breaks or will I need an escort for that too?"

"You are the one that came to me for my help, remember? Now, I suggest you stop your bellyaching and just accept the terms I have to offer, otherwise you can go back to whence you came."

Nikola leaned back and folded his arms across his chest with an air of scorn, but sighed in resignation. "Alright. I'll work under your oppressive environment if that's what it takes. But I don't have to like it."

"Fine."

"Can I just get started then? I'm not getting any younger here."

"Yes. Now that we are clear, I'll have Henry meet us in the lab."

XXXXX

Two weeks passed by since Tesla began his work and Will was growing restless. There wasn't much for him to do. He was no help to Henry, Magnus and Tesla as they worked (and bickered constantly) in the lab and he was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine for most everything else. He tried to occupy his time by listening to books on tape, but he found that it wasn't quite the same as actually reading a real book.

Then this morning a call came in about a report of an attack that had all the signs of being an abnormal. Something had viciously killed a couple living in the high-end of town and all that had been left were the half-eaten pieces of their bodies. After inspecting the police photos, Magnus spotted what looked like a tooth embedded in a severed leg and next to that a tell-tale foot print that had her suspecting that a wyvern had been involved. Will had never heard of a wyvern before and Magnus described it as being a creature much like a dragon, but smaller, no bigger than a large bird of prey like an eagle with a large, barbed stinger attached to its tail.

"It's the basis for many of the dragon myths in England and I suspect that this one may have been smuggled into the city. It wouldn't be the first time that someone captured one of these rare creatures to keep as a pet or part of a collection. They oftentimes get them when they are young, but fail to realize just how large and deadly they can become until it's too late." She had said with and air of disgust as she packed some gear up. "I'm taking Kate with me to go and investigate the scene."

Will wished he could have gone along, but what could he really do to help? He had always loved being able to piece together the events of a crime by taking in the various sights and clues that had been left behind, but now that was impossible for him. So, he could only stand by as Kate and Magnus left.

Hours passed and he had still heard nothing from the two of them. Magnus had called once to explain how she had spun the story for the police, explaining to them how it must have been an attack by a pack of feral dogs. Will thought it a sort of weak story, but the police, bogged down as it is by the normal, everyday crime in the city, had taken it at face value.

She hadn't called back since then and he was beginning to worry. He wanted to call her and make sure that everything was okay, but nothing sucked worse when you were tracking something and suddenly the phone rings, giving off your location, so it was common for them all to turn their phones off when stealth was needed.

To distract himself from his preoccupation, Will took to wandering down to he lab to make sure that Tesla and Henry weren't at each others throats again. Getting around the vast complex was becoming much simpler and the route to the lab was almost second nature now. As he drew near to the lab, he was aware of voices near shouting before he could even open the door.

"Why Helen thinks that you could be of any help to me is beyond my comprehension. You couldn't even put together a Mr. Machine much less a sophisticated piece of technology such as this." He heard Tesla complain as he walked in.

"Well, excuse me. But since you've turned into Magneto, I'm the one doing all of the work, so if you don't like it you can go find someone else to help you."

"Maybe I should. Oh hell, even Will could do a better job at this than you."

Will cleared his throat, trying to ignore another insult from Tesla, to announce his presence to the two.

"Hey Will." Henry greeted, but Tesla merely turned away and walked back to his microscope.

Henry walked swiftly away from Tesal and over to Will, grabbing his arm desperately and lowering his voice. "You gotta get me out of here. I don't think I can stand another minute in this room with him."

Will grinned and patted Henry on the shoulder sympathetically. "Sorry buddy. You know we can't leave him alone in here."

"Is Magnus back yet? It's her turn to watch Mr. Grumpy over there."

"No. Not yet. I was hoping they would have called in by now..."

"Yeah. Don't worry, You know Magnus and Kate, they can take care of themselves."

"I know, I just hate being stuck here without being able to help-" Will sighed and decided to change the subject since he had come here to distract himself from Magnus after all. "So, how's it coming with the nano-bots?"

"Nano-cytes." Tesla called out a correction from across the room without looking up from his microscope. "You know just because you whisper, doesn't mean I can't hear you."

"Whatever." Henry rolled his eyes. "We've run dozens of tests on some mice, but so far the results have been mixed."

"Mixed? How so?"

"Well...of the mice that had nerve damage, all of them saw positive results, it was truly remarkable, but after a while they all started to get sick and half of them died."

"Half?"

"Yeah. That's why Tesla's so pissed right now. See, in order for us to produce enough of these buggers to fix anything, they have to duplicate themselves using the organic materials that exist already in the body since it would be impossible for us to make the millions of these guys it takes to do the repair work on our own. So, we start off by just injecting about a hundred or so of them and let them go about making new ones of themselves But, there seems to be some bug in the program that calls for the nano-cytes stop self-replicating and shut themselves off once the repairs are finished, depleting the body and ultimately killing most our test subjects."

"Doesn't sound good. So why did half of the mice survive when the others died?"

"Well, we think it has something to do with the AI installed in each one of these guys. Each individual is designed to perform a specific task and work as an individual then copy itself. And when you have several hundred generations occurring every hour, flaws sometimes come up through the replication process, much like when you photocopy a photocopy and it doesn't come out as clear with each copy you make. Just like that, it's like their programming fades."

"So what are you guys doing about it?"

"We're trying to fix it, of course." Tesla called out again irritatedly. "And I almost have a solution, that is if you ever stop gabbing and get back here and help me."

"Sorry. I'll get going. Let you guys work." Will turned to leave, but Henry caught his sleeve.

"No. Stay please." Henry begged. "If I have to be alone with him for much longer, there will be blood."

"Alright. I'll just have a seat then and stay out of your way."

Henry brought a chair over and Will sat down listening to the two of them argue about this and that. It appeared that Tesla thought that he had a solution and that alone was enough to warrant further testing, even human testing soon, but Henry was adamant that they needed to revamp the whole thing and start over from the beginning. Will was interested in both sides until he started to get a little bored with it all. He felt himself getting sleepy and he began to nod off, leaning into his hand as his elbow rested on the desktop

He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but the sound of Henry's 'Star Wars' ring-tone going off jerked him to full alertness.

"Where are you?" He heard Henry ask. "Okay, I'll be right there." He flipped his phone shut, walked over to Will and addressed him "Looks like our girls got the wyvern. I gotta go and help Magnus get it into the SHU."

Will sighed in relief, glad that Magnus and Kate had made it back safely. Henry turned and pointed to Tesla before he made to leave. "You. No more lab until I get back."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Tesla grinned sardonically. Henry eyed him suspiciously, but was in a hurry to get to Magnus and hustled out of the room.

"Well, you heard him. Time to go." Will ordered Tesla.

"Just as well. Dinner should be ready soon and I need to pick out this evening's wine."

Will heard Tesla's chair scrape back and was satisfied that he was on his way out of the lab, he stood himself and followed him. If only he had had the benefit of his sight just then, then he would have seen Tesla palm the vial and pocket it before he got up.

TBC....


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Thanks again for all of your comments and I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, it's been crazy busy here. :D_

**Part VII**

"And then the wyvern is flying over us and land right in front of me and it's thrashing its tail all around and I can't good a good shot at it. Then, just as it's about to strike here comes Magnus and she shoots and POW! The thing goes down like a sack of potatoes." Kate forked another piece of steak into her mouth and kept talking. "It was pretty awesome. She came out of nowhere to save the day like some kind of superhero. You should have seen it."

Will pushed around his food, his appetite lost, instead he took a sip of the wine that Tesla had brought up for everyone and pretended to be interested in the conversation. He was grateful for the alcohol's dulling effects as hearing of the day's exploits from Kate hadn't made him any happier about being left behind while they went into an obviously dangerous situation. If anything it only made his uselessness all the more pronounced.

Interestingly enough, he had never sought the excitement of running around chasing criminals when he had been in the agency or the police. Then he had been satisfied with crime scene investigation and interviewing suspects rather than being out in the field. But after he had joined with Magnus, that had all changed and he found that he actually enjoyed the action and adventure that came with working for her. It brought an excitement to his life that he hadn't felt before and now he missed it and was unsatisfied with sitting on the sidelines.

"Well, that sounds incredibly daring, you could have been seriously hurt if things had gone the wrong way." Tesla chimed in before taking a sip of his wine, sneeking a glance over in Will's direction. "Too bad you couldn't be with them, Will. I'm sure you girls could have used the back-up."

Will put his glass down, now his appetite was well and truly gone. It was bad enough that he was excluded from missions like these, but to be reminded of how dangerous they could be and how he would never be able to protect Magnus or his friends was worse.

"Hey!" Kate broke in with offense. "We did just fine by ourselves." Realizing that her words might be hurtful to Will she quickly ammended herself "But not that we couldn't have used you along of course, Will."

That's when it hit him. They really didn't need him at all for much of anything. Magnus and Kate were more than capable of going out and handling things on their own, he couldn't help Henry much with the computers and even Bigfoot's role as driver and butler to Magnus was more in need than anything he had to offer now. He felt a throbbing begin to pound inside his temples and a stirring in his stomach as he tried to push these thoughts aside.

There was an uncomfortable silence at the table for several moments. Helen looked to Will, who had morosely taken to stabbing at his food with no intention of eating anymore while across the other end of the table Nikola smirked into his wine looking mighty pleased with himself as he took a satisfying gulp.

"So, Nikola... How were things going in the lab today?" She ventured to ask.

Tesla's face darkened and Helen knew right off that something was wrong when the tension mounted in the room between him and Henry.

"Your little assistant here," Tesla looked humorlessly over at Henry. "and I are having a little disagreement over how to proceed. But I believe that the nano-cytes should be ready to go in short order. I've managed to avoid the problem with the duplicate programming fade by re-programming the original nano-cytes to be the only ones that duplicate themselves."

"There's no guarantee that's going to work." Henry cut in, his eyes narrowing as he glowered at the man sitting haughtily across from him. "I think there might be something fundamentally wrong with their programming or maybe their design." Henry explained as he tore his sight from Tesla over to Helen. "We were seeing even some of the original nano-cytes multiply uncontrollably even without the fading and many of them failed to shut down even after tissue repair was complete. We need to go back to the beginning and break them down to their basic design and start over"

"Oh here we go again." Tesla put down his wine angrily. "I've fixed the programming problem, what part of that doesn't your little mind understand?" Tesla then turned to Helen and continued passionately.

"It could be months, Helen. You want that? What about Will here? Do you think he wants to wait that long, especially when I've already assured you that the nano-cytes will operate properly?"

"We all know that you're not creating these things for Will's benefit." Henry shot back. "Leave him out of it."

"That's quite enough." Helen interjected, hoping to end the argument before it escalated into shouting. "If Henry believes that we need to start over then I am inclined to err on the side of caution and begin again. End of argument."

"Fine. Have it your way. But trust me, the nano-cytes will work as they are." Tesla rose from the table and left in a snit. No one was upset to see him go.

Will rested his elbow on the table and palmed his face into his hand, the noise from their voices had cut through to his brain and made it impossible to think past his hurting head, he felt a creeping achiness enter his bones and he suddenly felt exhausted. The thought of having to wait months for any kind of improvement to his vision was daunting.

Begging off Magnus' offer for a little tea after dinner, Will went straight to his room. He could hear in her voice that she wanted to talk to him, but he was just in no mood for that. He had to admit that he wasn't feeling very well and all he wanted was some sleep.

But that wasn't all. Knowing Magnus, he figured that she would have picked up on his dour mood at dinner and he had a feeling that she would try to pry what was bothering him out, but just then he wasn't feeling up to anymore introspection and his headache was increasingly becoming more bothersome and his body was aching for rest. All he wanted was to go to bed and forget about it until the morning.

Will had just made it to his room, flopped down on his bed and was almost asleep when a knock sounded at his door.

"What now?" He groaned to himself, thinking that Magnus had come to talk to him despite his wanting some space and a good night's rest for his pounding head. He sat up and swung his feet to the floor, a small wave of light-headedness catching him by surprise as did so. He was definitely coming down with some kind of flu, either that or the wine he had that night was stronger than he was used to.

"Come-in." He called out to the closed door. When it opened it wasn't the distinct clip-clop of Helen's pumps that she was wearing that day, but a softer step.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's just me, Will." Kate answered and to him she sounded somewhat shy, which definitely went against her character.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh...uh....nothing. I uh...just wanted to...ya know. To say I'm sorry for saying stupid stuff at dinner tonight."

"You came here to apologize for dinner?" He asked.

"Yeah. You know I tend to run my mouth off. Sometimes things just blurt out of it before I can stop myself."

"It's okay." She was quiet as if she still had more she wanted to say and despite his tiredness and the headache, he felt himself slip into his role as psychiatrist, curious to find out what was bugging her. "Now why don't you tell me why you really came here."

He felt her weight settle onto the bed beside him and heard her sigh. "Am I really that obvious?"

"More than a little. I don't think you've ever apologized to me ...or maybe anyone before."

"Well....It's just that...uh...well, how do I put this?"

"Just say what's on your mind."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "When I was a little girl, shortly after my father died, my mother took my brother and I to India to stay with her mother for a while. Right outside of her home there was this blind beggar who always used to sit there and he...he used to swear at us whenever we passed by because my grandmother would never give him any coins. Well, one day as me and my brother were going into the house, he managed to reach out and grab me by the shirt. He held me tight and no matter how much I tried to squirm out of his grasp, he wouldn't let go and he kept on yelling at me in Indian. Everything from his smell to his rotten teeth to the way he seemed so angry at me had me so scared. But what was worst of all was his eyes, they were....I hate to say it...but a lot like yours look now. And ever since then...I've kinda been a little nervous around blind people. I know it's stupid, I'm a grown-up now, I shouldn't be like this anymore but...."

"But you can't help the way you feel. I guess that explains why haven't been very comfortable around me. You were traumatized by that incident and when we're young, things like that can forever impact the way we view things. For me, I'll never go rollerskating ever again all because a boy tripped me at a roller-rink when I was ten and I broke my arm. You have nothing to be ashamed of, we all have fears, both rational and irrational."

"I know, but I just...I feel terrible about it. Henry, Magnus, even the Big-Guy have all been helping you, but I just don't know how. I'm sorry...I've been a rotten friend and I shouldn't have avoided you."

Will felt for her knee and gave it a quick, friendly pat. He was about to reassure her that she wasn't a bad friend when he was suddenly grabbed by another attack of dizziness and he had to put his head in his hands just to keep upright.

"Hey, you okay?" Kate asked, supporting him around the shoulder. "You just turned white as a sheet and looked like you were about to pass out."

"Nah....just a little dizzy and I've got a headache...It was probably too much wine."

"Why don't you lie down." She suggested and he couldn't argue with her, he was just so tired and keeping his eyes open was a chore. "Can I get you anything?" She asked.

"No. I'm okay...I just need to get some sleep." Will stretched out on the bed and Kate rose, still concerned.

"You sure you're alright?" She asked again.

Will didn't answer, but nodded his head and closed his eyes.

"Okay, then I guess I'll let you get some sleep."

He was fast asleep by the time she left his room and closed the door.

XXXXXX

From his darkened corner of the hallway, concealed from anyone that might be passing by, Nikola watched as Kate quietly closed the door to Will's room and turned to walk down the opposite end of the corridor from him. He was certain that she hadn't seen him, for if she had, she surely would have questioned why he was lurking there in the corner.

After she was well and gone, he checked his watch. He had surreptitiously placed the sedative in Will's drink before dinner and he had to be passed out by now. Judging by the way that Kate had left his room so stealthily he had to believe that the drug had finally taken its full effect. The kid wouldn't be awake for quite awhile, certainly long enough for him to get the job done.

From his perspective, he was not evil nor a mad scientist as many in the house would like to believe. He was merely ambitious and driven, qualities that he thought made him more than just your run-of-the-mill genius, but destined for legend. And he was not without a conscious, he had even toyed with the idea of coming to Will and offer him a choice in this, but he had dismissed that quite quickly, Helen had made it clear at dinner that she would back Henry up and she now had plans to scrap all of his work and begin anew. And Will was such a loyal puppy that he would do whatever Helen wanted and reject his offer, even if that meant that a cure for him might possibly be months away, so giving him a choice was now out of the question.

Nikola, however was not willing to wait any longer. Ever since that fateful day when his vampire abilities had been stolen from him, he was desperate to get them back and soon. He had felt hollow since then, a shell of the man he used to be and he longed for the days when he could enjoy the strength in his muscles, the heightened senses and the power again that being a vampire had given him. But most of all, he desired to feel that all-consuming, drug-like blood-lust once again; to taste the slick, metallic blood against his tongue. That alone was enough to drive him to this and he just could not wait any longer or surely he would perish. Helen's agreement with Henry to start over was most frustrating and he wasn't going to stand for it, not when his goal was so close at hand.

Seeing that the coast was now clear and he could hear no sounds of approaching footsteps, he stepped out of his hiding place and into the light, quietly and quickly hurrying to Will's door. He darted his head around again, to ensure that he was still alone as he slowly turned the doorknob. He slipped inside the dark room and entered as silently as possible.

Though there was only the light coming through the window, he could clearly see that Will was out cold and he walked over to him, lifting a limp hand and allowing it to flop down. The boy didn't so much as stir and Nikola sneered at how easy this was going to be.

He crouched down beside the bed and pulled the vial out of his pocket along with a syringe which he unwrapped and stabbed into the stopper. He pulled back on the plunger, filling the syringe to the required amount and then flicking it a couple of times with his finger to release any air bubbles.

Nikola paused a moment and took in the face of the sleeping psychiatrist. He was so vulnerable at that second that he realized how simple it would be just to kill him then and there. The kid was a miserable thorn in his side and he obviously had the affections of the beautiful Helen Magnus which raised his hackles to no end, but if he was to kill him, where would that leave him? As much as he hated to admit it, he needed him for his own purposes. Ending him would have to wait.

After all, he needed his guinea pig. How else was he supposed to find out how the nano-cytes would react to a human host? He had been tempted to test them out on himself, but reason had won out and he concluded that in his current and pathetically normal, human state that any repair that the nano-cytes could accomplish within himself would hardly be calculable. But with Will on the other hand, his results would be far more pronounced and if his creations were to indeed restore his eyesight and reverse the nerve damage that had been done, then it would only be a matter of simple reprogramming to get them to return him his vampire abilities.

Of course, Helen would be livid that he had taken this step and without Will's knowledge or her permission, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made. She would no doubt boot him from the Sanctuary and deny him entrance ever again, but she would forgive him, especially after her favored pet was healed. But just to be on the safe side, he had had the forethought to mail-off half of the vial to a secret post office box which he could retrieve later

Setting the syringe down on the nightstand, Nikola raised Will's t-shirt sleeve up. If only the nano-cytes could have been administered as easily as the sedative had been, then he wouldn't have to be doing this, but as it was, the best way to ensure proper insertion into the body was through injection rather than ingestion. He grabbed a pre-soaked swab and rubbed a circle over the skin of Will's shoulder before taking up the syringe again and inserted the needle, pushing the plunger down until all of the contents were injected. Even after all of that, Will never moved a muscle.

Satisfied that there was little else for him to do but wait, Nikola policed up his trash and stashed it back in his pocket before getting up and heading for the door. Just before he placed his hand on the doorknob, he heard a clomping of heels striking the hard-wood floors in the hallway outside. He held his breath hoping that the footsteps would pass by and fade away, but when they stopped just in front of the door he quickly looked about for a place to hide.

"Will?" He heard a knock and Helen's voice from the opposite side of the door. "Kate said you weren't feeling well so I thought I would come and check on you."

Out in the hallway, Helen waited for a response, but received none. "Will?" she knocked a little louder, growing concerned from the lack of sound coming from within. She had been on enough overnight trips with him to know that he was a light-sleeper and would wake from even the slightest of noises, it wasn't like him to sleep through this. Worried that he might be more ill than Kate had described to her, she tried the door handle and opened it.

"Will" She called out to him again as she walked in and came by his side. He still did not move and as she bent down beside him, she noticed the up-raised shirt-sleeve and the small, but distinct spot of blood on his shoulder. She shook him gently about the shoulders to wake him, but still he would not respond.

From his position in the closet with the door slightly ajar, Nikola berated himself for not locking the door. The jig was up now and he knew that he might as well come clean to Helen, the deed was done and there was no going back. She was going to find out what he had done anyway, but he had hoped that they would have seen some results first, but there was no point in hiding any longer. He pushed the door open the rest of the way. She whipped her head around and shot an angry and malevolent glare his way.

"Nikola! What have you done?"

TBC.....


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry once again for taking so incredibly long to get this latest chapter out. Real life has been kicking me in the pants and then there's the part about me just being plain lazy with a serious case of ADD. Again, I know this isn't perfect and all mistakes and typos are my own fault. Also, thanks again for everyone's reviews and story alerts, it's always nice to know what you think of my story. I love ya all! :D_

**Part VIII**

Helen paced back and forth from one end of the cell to the other, ranting as she moved, her face flushed with seething with righteous anger.

"How could you, Nikola?" her voice echoed and reverberated off the harsh metal walls that surrounded them while near the door, Bigfoot stood with his arms folded across his chest, his visage poorly masking the absolute rage he held barely at bay. She was of half a mind to allow him to have a go at Nikola and wipe the smug look he sported just then off of his face.

"I've already explained myself, Helen. And you should be grateful that I took this extra step. In a few hours, your young protege should begin to see some improvement-"

"Grateful?" Helen nearly shouted. "You combined a powerful sedative with alcohol, Will was almost in a coma thanks to you and he could have died if I hadn't come to his room. As it is, I've had to give him stimulants just to raise his blood-pressure to acceptable levels. Let's not also forget that you decided to experiment on him without his consent. And you think I should be grateful?"

Nikola merely shrugged. She was too angry to be reasoned with. "I did what needed to be done- what you would be too afraid to try."

"I would never try such a cowardly, foolhardy and reckless act. You've gone too far this time!"

"So what are you going to do leave me locked in here forever?"

"If that's what it takes." Helen turned on her heel and made for the door. Tesla stood from his bench as she and Bigfoot began to exit. Before they could slam the door on him she could hear him shouting.

"You can't do this, Helen! This is false imprisonment!" The cell door shut tightly and he could hear it being bolted.

He was still yelling and throwing a fit as she left the confinement area then turned to Bigfoot.

"Keep an eye on him please, I'm going to go check on Will." He nodded with a grunt and she hurried back over to the infirmary. Kate and Henry had been instructed to alert her if Will woke up while she handled things with Nikola, but since she hadn't heard from them, she had to assume that he was still out. When she rounded the corner to the infimary and entered she found Henry and Kate still sitting quietly by Will's bed. He was pale, but otherwise still seemed to be holding his own.

"He hasn't moved since you left." Kate apprised her as Helen checked his vitals and adjusted his IV. Thankfully everything appeared to be normal except for the fact that he had a slight fever.

"What are you going to do with Tesla?" Henry asked when she had finished.

"Frankly, I'm not quite sure yet. We've got more important things to focus on" Just as she said it, Will shifted in his bed.

He was still too pale for her liking, but the small groan she heard issuing from his lips at least brought a small sense of relief to know that he was coming around.

Will in the mean time was becoming uncomfortably aware that he wasn't in his bed, the sheets felt too fresh and stiff and he was certainly not laying on his own pillow. His head still hurt and pounded like a hammer on an anvil and he just wished that someone would turn down the lights.

The force of that last thought hit him and he snapped his eyes open, finding himself surrounded by a whiteness even more blinding than the darkness that had started to become accustomed to. He gave an audible gasp and shot up to a sitting position, the sudden change causing his head to mimic a small nuclear explosion and he had to grip his head tightly from the pain. He screwed his eyes shut again, The white was gone, but the light still hurt his eyes.

"Will?" Magnus asked as she bent down closer to him and put an arm around his shoulder.

"What's happening to me?" He asked, still holding his head for fear that it might actually fall off. "Where are we?"

"It's alright. You're in the infirmary."

"I think...I'm seeing something." He told her and opened his eyes again to make sure he hadn't just been imagining things. The whiteness returned, painfully searing into his already miserable head.

"Are you certain?" He nodded, confused, frightened and elated all at the same time.

"What are you seeing exactly?" Magnus probed.

"White....just a lot of white." He was still blind as a bat, but experiencing something other than the black that he had been surrounded by before left him wondering if this was any sort of improvement at all. "How is this happening?"

"Tesla" Answered Kate for Magnus who was engaged with finding a penlight from her pocket.

"Tesla? What did he do?"

"He drugged you last night." Magnus replied this time. "He wanted to sedate you in order to inject you with the nano-cytes."

"He did what?!" Will suddenly grew angered. "Where is he?"

"Don't worry, Will. He's locked up and he won't be coming anywhere near you."

"He's the one that should be worried about me getting to him." Will grumbled only to be rewarded with a fresh stab of head pain.

"Lie back." Magnus instructed. She reached for her penlight and shone it into his eyes. He winced at the bright light and then he braced himself as she did the same to his other eye. She then pulled out an opthalmascope and did a more thorough exam.

"Amazing." She whispered to herself and Will could hear the excitement in her voice.

"What is it?" He asked

"The scar tissue and cataracts on your eyes appears to be receding. I can almost make out the hazel of your irises."

"Really. Then these things might actually be working." Will began, hopefully. "I might get my sight back."

"I'm cautiously optimistic for that and I'm surprised to see so much improvement after such a short period of time. It's really quite remarkable. How are you feeling?"

"Well, aside from the worst migraine ever. Okay, I guess. I feel a little weird."

"Weird? How so?"

"A little cold. Sort of dizzy. I don't know...it's hard to explain. Feels like I'm coming down with something."

"Yes, well you have a bit of a fever. I'm going to run some more blood tests. It could just be aftereffects of the sedative you were given."

Will nodded and rested his head further back into the pillow while Magnus busied herself with taking blood samples

"Henry, would you come with me a moment?" Helen asked of Henry when she was finished and he got up from the stool he was sitting on, following her into the medical lab, out of earshot of Will.

"Can I get you anything?" Kate asked once they were gone, trying to make herself useful. "Extra pillow or a blanket, maybe?"

"Just some water would be nice." It seemed really dry in there to him and his tongue felt funny, almost like it was swollen. Kate got up to fill a pitcher of water and he scratched at an annoying itch that had crept up on his neck. Then he felt another itch on his chest and scratched at that one as well. Before Kate could get back to him, the itching had spread and it felt like his skin was trying to crawl out of his clothing.

Back in the office, Helen loaded the blood samples for analysis and then turned to Henry who stood watching by her side.

"I know from the experiments that you conducted on the mice that these machines are capable of uncontrolled reproduction, I need to know that if these things should become out of hand that we can shut them down if need be."

"Are you asking if they have some kind of 'off' switch?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Well, they were programmed to shut down when there was nothing left for them to repair and then they could just be absorbed back into the system, but as it is, they can't be controlled remotely, they have to be programmed before they enter the body."

"I need you to work on a way to shut them down should the need arise. I'm concerned at how fast they already seem to reproducing. If only the original nano-cytes are reproducing then their progress should have been much slower."

"Sure. I'll start right away." Henry took off after that and Helen turned her focus back on the blood work. It was only moments later that Kate came running, a flush to her face and an urgency that grabbed Helen's immediate concern.

"Come quick, something's wrong!" Without asking any questions, Helen hurried after kate back to Will. He sat in his bed, miserably scratching all over his arms, chest and neck.

"What's wrong?" She asked

"I itch everywhere." Helen lifted up his shirt to see what might have been causing it and swore once she saw the raised, red splotches standing out against his pale skin. She looked up into Will's face and he looked even whiter than he had before she left him and the tell-tale signs of swelling made it clear that he was suffering from some sort of anaphylaxis and it's suddenness was cause for alarm.

Besides that itching, Will was starting to feel lightheaded as he felt his windpipe constrict. "It's getting hard...to breathe." He wheezed out. He had a sinking suspicion that he knew what was wrong with him too. "Allergic...reaction?"

"Try not to speak, Will. Kate- go to that top drawer over there and grab me an epi-pen and hurry."

Kate ran to the drawer and flung it open, unsure of what she was looking for until she found a long pen-like injector and ran back to Magnus with it. Helen grabbed it from her and pulled the top off, swiftly injecting it into his thigh. She then reached for the near-by oxygen mask and slipped it over his face. "Breathe deep, Will. Try to relax."

Will could only nod as he tried to suck in as much of the oxygen as he could into his lungs. As the drug took effect, he could feel his heart begin to pound harder and his muscles grow tense. A fine sheet of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he soon found that breathing was becoming easier.

"I'm going to start you on some dyphenhydramine, that should control the histamine your body is producing."

Will understood and nodded, but Kate looked anxious, unsure of what was happening. Helen began to explain it to her "Will's had a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, the nano-cytes are a foreign substance and his body's immune system has reacted to it by releasing histamine, but now it's producing too much, causing the reaction you see here. I've given him some epinephrine, it dilates the blood vessels and air passages, so he can breathe easier."

"Will he be alright?" Kate asked.

"He should be fine for now. I'll be giving him antihistamines and keeping a close watch on him."

Magnus patted Will on the knee and gave him a weak half-smile. "Feeling any better?"

"A little" He squeaked out

"Good. I'll get your medication now" She noted how he still tried to scratch at all of his hives and added. "And maybe some Caladryl lotion as well."

She walked off, leaving Kate alone with Will. He tried to relax as much as he could, but the surge of energy the adrenaline Magnus had given him made it next to impossible. His hands shook and he couldn't keep his legs still. He was thankful when Magnus returned with the medication and administered it to his IV catheter, hoping that its drowsy effects would take some of the edge off. He was equally as grateful for the Caladryl cream she helped apply to the hives.

"I should go and relieve the Big-guy and send him up here, He's better nurse than me anyway." Kate admitted and Helen nodded without argument. While Kate was a formidable fighter, she could tell that the younger woman was a bit squeamish around medical matters and she could use Bigfoot's expertise.

After Kate left, Will began to relax somewhat. The anti-histamines were beginning to have an effect and he could feel his heart-rate begin to slow down to a more manageable level. Magnus noticed the the slight shiver that passed over him and brought over another blanket.

As she was unfolding it and draping it over him, it flapped in front of his face without touching him. It was a surprise to both of him when he stopped her with a "Wait!"

"What is it? Something wrong?"

"No...I saw movement...I think....do that again." He wasn't sure if he had been imagining the flutter of a shadow that had passed in front of him. It had been faint, like when a television screen had been turned up to it's brightest level and only vague outlines could be made out.

Helen stepped in a little closer and used her hand to slowly move it back in forth before his eyes. A smile spread across Will's face, lighting it up in a way that she hadn't seen in far too long.

"I saw that. It was just a faint shadow, but I definitely saw that."

Helen couldn't contain her smile either as his pure joy was contagious. As if he couldn't quite believe that he was seeing anything he raised his hand and waved it in front of his own face several times, his smile growing until a lump grew in his throat and a single tear formed in his eye, dropping silently onto his cheek.

OOOOOO

Kate found the Big-guy, growling at the closed door, his face full of irritation and barely restrained malice.

"Hey...How's the babysitting going?"

"Ugh...see for yourself." Kate looking to the window and couldn't help but grin at seeing Tesla fuming inside, acting like a petulent child that had been sent to his room for misbehaving.

"You know you can't keep me in here forever." Tesla called through the partition.

"Oh Yeah, well just watch us." Kate called back to him. He gave her a look of disgust and turned his back storming off to the cot and huffing as he sat down.

She turned her attention back to her large friend. "Magnus is going to need you back in the infirmary. I'll take over from here."

He nodded with relief. "Good riddance." and marched off.

Kate took a seat and pulled her Ipod out of her pocket, hoping to use the music to drown out the whining going on from inside the cell.

She hadn't even turned it on before she heard Tesla call out again from inside the cell. "You know, you still have to feed me. I'm getting pretty hungry in here."

With a sigh she stood up and walked over to the door, slamming her fist against it. "Hey, this is not the Hilton here, there's no room service and you'll get fed when when the rest of us do. Just keep your panties on."

"You have to at least provide me with some water. Wine would be preferable, but water would be acceptable as I'm already quite parched."

Kate threw her head back in exasperation. The man was impossible. She went to the window and glared at him, he pulled his best puppy-dog look and she just shook her head. If it would keep him quiet for a little while, she might as well get him a glass of water. "Fine. I'll get you some water. Just hold on."

Leaving the cell behind she thought that with him locked up tighter than Fort Knox that he would be alright by himself for a few minutes. Where could he possibly go anyway?

OOOOO

Nikola grinned to himself as he watched Kate stomp off after his request for water. With her safely out of the picture for a few minutes, he could focus. He hadn't tried to do much with his newly acquired abilities, what with them being more of a hindrance than a help, but he could almost feel the heavy-metal pull of the door through his veins.

He walked right over to the cell door and touched it. He felt it pull against his skin as he skimmed his hand down to the lock. Being a mechanical genius also had it's benefits and he grinned to himself. This was going to be easier than he hoped. Using his finger he felt the tumblers inside the locking mechanism moving to his will. He had to try several to get them to move into just the right position, but after a fashion, he heard the welcome sounds of clicking that told him that the lock was opening and it was only moments later that he had it open.

Time was of the essence now that the door swung wide open and he would have to run if he was to avoid recapture. Glancing around the door, he saw that Kate was still nowhere in sight and he might just be able to pull this one off. Without wasting anymore time, he made good of his escape.

OOOOO

Helen shook her head in dismay as she read the results of Will's latest blood test results. While his vision appeared to be improving far faster than she could have imagined, she was worried by the number of nano-cytes coursing through his system and her fears were only confirmed by the high white blood cell count she was reading now.

His immune system was kicking into overdrive. That much had been evident by the allergic reaction he suffered, but more worrisome now was how closely his blood work resembled that of someone with a systemic infection. His white blood cells were multiplying almost as fast as the nano-cytes in order to attack the foreign invaders and as the microscopic machines were immune to any kind of antibiotics, she was left without any treatment.

For his part, Will couldn't care less that his temperature was rising, nor that he had a screaming headache. He was actually seeing things now. Not clearly, not even by a long shot; mostly shadows and the occasional outline of a form, but it was seeing and that was all that mattered to him. He could deal with a little pain and fever if things continued to improve as much as they already had. He knew Magnus was concerned and was itching for a way to stop or at least slow down the process, but he was so close to being back to normal that it would be too heartbreaking for her to put a stop to it yet.

For now, he was fine, he told himself. Sure he was tired and the way the had lost his lunch a few minutes ago had been quite unpleasant, but he could deal with it. He'd had worse before, recalling the day his appendix ruptured when he was in college. That had been bad, worse than this even, so he could handle it.

Helen walked back over to her patient, thermometer in one hand and blood pressure cuff in the other. "How are you doing, Will?" She asked.

Magnus appeared before him. He still couldn't make out her face, but her outline was a welcome sight. He smiled despite himself and despite the throbbing tap dances going on in his temples.

"I'm alright....really." He tried to convince her.

She stuck the thermometer in his ear and waited for the beep. 102.4. Not too high yet, but considering that it was only 101 just a short time ago, she was concerned that her measures to keep it down weren't ever going to be successful. Blood pressure was next and that also was too high for her liking.

"I'm worried, Will."

"I'm okay, Magnus. Things are getting clearer now. I can almost see your face."

She knew, by the flush of his cheeks, the red hives that still marked his skin and the crease of his eyebrows as he lay exhausted against his pillow that things were far from okay.

"It's not so bad- ahhh!" Will's hands flew to his eyes suddenly and he sat up, pressing them hard against his eyes.

"Will?!" She grabbed his arm with alarm. "What wrong?"

He held out a hand to ward her off.

"It's okay...I'm okay...just...hurts some that's all." He told her through gritted teeth. He hadn't been prepared for the sudden flare up of lancing pain through his eyes and forehead. Catching his breath, he tried to breathe through it, hoping it would go away quickly.

Helen was convinced now that things were spiraling out of her control and she didn't like it one bit. "That's it, Will. We need to find a way to stop this-"

"No!" He nearly shouted, even though it brought with it a new stab of pain, taking Helen of guard by his vehemence. After a beat and a calming breath he added: "Why don't we just let them run their course. Tesla seemed pretty convinced that they would shut themselves down once they finished the healing process."

"That may be the case, but I'm not willing to risk your health on Nikola's assumptions. Your vision might be clearing up, but the effect the nano-cytes are having on your immune system is getting worse. If we don't find a way to stop them soon...."

"Please..." He practically begged.

"No, Will." She put her foot down. "I've already asked Henry to find a way of shutting them down now."

Will's shoulders slumped. "I know how much you want this to work. I do too. However, your temperature is rising and that pain you're experiencing might only get worse. We're sailing into uncharted waters here and it frightens me to think that I have no course of treatment for you should things deteriorate any further."

"Just give it a little more time, Please." He pleaded with her again. "I'm sure Henry will have figured out a way to shut them down should things get worse, but I'm so close now. I don't want to stop it."

"Even if it kills you, Will?" She asked pointedly, the edge in her voice making it clear to him that she did not approve of letting things deteriorate any further than they already had. Giving her a defeated sigh as his only response, Helen gave his shoulder a squeeze of reassurance.

How could he tell her that putting his life at risk would all be worth it if he could just see again. He was willing to take that chance, but she clearly was not.

"Magnus!" Both Helen and Will turned to the sound of Kate's voice reverberating through the infirmary from the intercom.

"What is it, Kate?" Helen called back, sensing the strain in tension in the younger woman's voice and instantly growing concerned..

"We got a problem. Tesla's gone."

TBC.....


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: I'm so, so sorry for taking so long to get this next chapter out. I have no excuses other than laziness and being distracted by another story idea. Please forgive me. Anyway, if you're still reading this story, I thank you for hanging in there despite my slowness, I've made a vow to myself to finish this story before I work on any others and I'm thinking that the next chapter might wrap it up. Once again, thanks for all of your kind reviews, they're heartily appreciated. :D_

**Chapter 9**

Curling in on himself, seemed to be the best way to handle the tremors and chills coursing through him. When he thought earlier that he had been worse off before, he had been so wrong. He had to take deep breaths the keep the pain in his head from overwhelming him, but even those were becoming harder and harder to take. So tight in a ball he lay on his side, barely aware of Magnus placing a cool, wet cloth over his forehead nor her careful ministrations and assurances that he's be fine.

But one thing made than pain bearable. Whenever he chanced to uncrew his eyes from another bout of shivers, he could see more and more clearly.

He pulled the blanket that had been covering him up higher, hoping it would chase some of the tremors away. It did little good. He felt an object press onto his temple and he chanced to open his eyes again. The light was still painfully bright, but the sight of seeing the dark-haired blur that he knew was Magnus was encouraging enough to draw him out of his pain-addled haze.

"What ya doing?" He asked weakly.

"I'm taking your temperature. It's getting pretty high."

"But it's working." He countered with a smile that resembled more of a grimace. "I can tell you're wearing that green shirt with the puffy sleeves now."

"Actually, it's teal." She corrected him, her face coming into blurry view, running a hand across his brow with the cloth, wiping the sweat away. He knew that if he could make out her eyes, he'd see concern there.

"Teal, green, whatever...it's a pretty color." He sighed. "I'm just glad I can see it, especially on you." He added truthfully, beyond caring what it might have sounded like to her. At least if he was going to die from this he thought, then he die happy seeing some color before his eyes again.

"How's the pain?" She asked.

"Bearable." He lied, closing his eyes again and he knew she knew it.

"I'm sorry, there isn't much I can do for it. I've already tried the morphine and I can't give you any more for a few hours"

"'s okay."

He heard footsteps next walking up to his bed, he didn't have to turn his head to know it was Kate with Bigfoot in tow. Magnus' face exited from his vision, turning towards the new arrivals

Closing his eyes again and trying not to focus on the pain, he focused his attention on the conversation starting between the three.

"Any sign of Nikola?" Magnus asked.

"No." Kate replied, sounding apologetic. "He's clear flown the coop, even somehow knocked out the security cameras on his way out and we have no way of knowing which way he could have gone. I'm sorry, Magnus, I should have kept a closer eye on him. I just didn't think him capable of getting out of the cell."

"It's alright, Kate." Magnus offered some pardon for the younger woman. "None of us expected him to be able to breach our security systems and it wouldn't be the first time I underestimated Nikola. But right now, we have bigger problems."

"How is he?" Kate asked.

"Hanging in there."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Sure, Why don't you go and see if Henry needs any help."

"'kay." He felt a hand touch his shoulder as Kate spoke to him softly. "We'll get you better soon, Will."

He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly, taking in her dark features and nodded just enough to let her know that he heard her without letting the movement jar loose another spike of pain in his head before she turned away and walked off.

"Can I get you anything?" Bigfoot asked Magnus. "You must be hungry."

"No, thank-you. I have some more blood test results I need to check." Magnus' voice lowered, but Will could still make out what she was saying. "But I would like you to prepare some lorazapam, Fever reducers haven't had much of an effect so far, and Will's fever is spiking into seizure territory and I'd like to hold them off as best as we can."

The big-guy grunted his assent.

Moments later he felt the presence of big-foot looming over him, knowing that he was injecting his IV with the drug and he gave himself over to oblivion.

OOOOO

Henry sat at his computer, running a hand through his hair as if to pull it out. It was dark in the lab, save for the glow of several computer screens and the occasional flash of light coming through the window as a thunderstorm worked its way towards them.

"Hey." Kate announced herself as she walked in. Seeing his apparent distress she asked the obvious anyway. "How's it coming?"

He sighed and looked up. "It's been better."

"Ya got anything yet?"

"Not really." He pointed to the empty cages that had once held the rodents they had experimented the nano-cytes on originally. Not one remained. "Half of them were still up and kicking until a few hours ago. Now they're all gone."

She hung close to the door, Henry looked to be on the edge of freaking out, she wanted to just rush in and give him an encouraging hug. But hugs weren't on the menu yet in their relationship and she wasn't ready to cross any lines and besides, she didn't do hugs.

"So, how's Will?" Henry asked with concern lacing his voice and marking his face.

"Not so hot." She informed him truthfully with a sigh. "Ya need any help in here?" She offered.

"I'm not sure how you could. I helped put these things together and I'm almost out of options here."

Kate decided to make her move then and enter fully into Henry's lab. She dodged equipment that sat haphazardly across the floor and remarked to herself that Henry really had no place calling her messy when his lab looked like a nuclear testing ground. She was almost to his desk when her foot snagged on a cord stretched across the floor. Losing her balance, she began to fall forward, certain that her face would be meeting the hard wood floor at any moment. However, strong hands stopped her momentum and grabbed firmly onto her forearms.

Just inches from her face, she noticed for the first time how his greenish/hazel eyes projected concern for her in a way she hadn't experienced before and momentarily she was unable to catch her breath.

"Whoa there, you okay?" He asked. Suddenly realizing that he was still holding onto her, she backed off, feeling awkward.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine. What was that wire doing there anyway?"

Henry seemed to realize that he too was still grasping her and he let go with a slight air of embarrassment. "Sorry...I needed another outlet for this computer...oh shit."

"What?" She asked.

"You unplugged it, I was in the middle of something and now I'll have to reboot the whole thing and start over."

Kate hissed in a breath, sheepishly offering another apology. "Damn, Sorry."

"It's okay...I wasn't making much headway anyway."

Another flash of lightening lit up the office, lighting Henry's face, highlighting his downtrodden features. She hated seeing him like this. She could see that he was beating himself up for not coming up with an answer yet and while they were normally like oil and water when they were together, she couldn't help but want to assuage his distress."You're doing the best you can, ya know."

"I know, but I should have seen this coming. I knew these things needed more testing, . I should have trashed them when I had the chance, but Will and Magnus were so hopeful and I didn't want to let them down. But, I screwed up and this is all my fault. I left Tesla alone and I should have suspected that he would do something rash. I screwed this whole shit up royally."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known what Tesla was going to do. If this is anyone's doing it's his and his alone."

Henry shook his head dejectedly, tugging at Kate's heart seeing him debasing himself so. Lightening lit up the room again, highlighting his downtrodden features and she was suddenly angry at the whole situation.

"Wish we could just fry the suckers and then find Tesla and fry him as well." She spat out.

Henry had been silent, looking out the window in deep thought and lost in his own inadequacies when it seemed like he suddenly heard her. "fry 'em?" He muttered. His eyes darted about the computers then back out to the window where more lightening flashed.

"Shit...Reboot...why didn't I think of this before?" He was suddenly all movement, pacing back and forth.

"See what before?"

"Fry 'em...we _can_ fry 'em."

"What?...you're not making any sense."

"Don't you see? The last time I had to reboot our entire computer system it was because of a lightening strike. It hit one of our towers and fried several computers that weren't connect to surge protectors. Look-" He pulled on the cord that Kate had recently tripped over and pulled on it again, sending his computer screen black. "Too little power shuts down the machine and too much turns it into scrap metal. Since the nano-cytes create their own power from the body's own electrical current...too much power flowing through the body should overload them."

"Wait..wait...wait." She held out her hands, trying to follow his reasoning until it hit her like a ton of bricks. "So you're saying we have to _shock _Will in order to kill these things. Isn't that pretty extreme?"

Henry's face dropped. "Yeah...But we'll just have to find out how much electricity is needed to knock them out. If it's not too much to hurt Will, then this might work."

OOOOO

He was in agony now. His muscles strained and tensed into tight cords, hands reflexively clenching and unclenching, clawing at the fabric of the sheets underneath him. Tears fell unbidden through his scrunched up eyes and Helen had never felt so useless before.

All of her efforts thus far to stem the pain and the fever were for naught and even the sedative she had ordered had had little effect, it was as though the nano-cytes just absorbed anything she gave him and rendered them ineffective.

She was at a loss and Will was getting worse every second.

Taking her temporal thermometer out once again, she brushed back some of his hair, feeling the intense heat of his skin and felt him squirm against her touch before she pressed it to his temple and waited for the reading.

When it was finished, she looked at it, almost doing a double take: 105.9. She had taken his temp only about twenty minutes ago and it had been hovering around 104, but now It had risen so sharply, and so fast that she was almost in disbelief. She didn't think she'd ever seen a fever this high before and she would have to get it down fast if Will was going to survive without any permanent damage. Brain damage being the most worrying of all.

She yelled for Big Foot and ordered ice packs- lot's of them. Will already had a cooling blanket underneath him, but it was her only one on hand and apparently it wasn't enough. Something needed to be done, and fast.

Bringing as many of the gel-filled ice packs as they had in stock, Big foot came around the bed and they placed them over his chest and abdomen. Will shivered and moaned as the cold seeped into him, but Helen was guardedly pleased to see his temp go down a degree after half an hour. But ultimately, it was only a stop-gap measure until they could find a way to turn off those damned things coursing through his blood.

Will was no longer holding onto an semblance of awareness now, but every so often a broken whimper would elicit from his lips and tear at Helen from the inside. She wasn't sure she could do this again: lose another friend. She had lost too many already and she wasn't ready to lose Will as well, not if she could help it.

Movement from the door to the infirmary grabbed her attention and when Henry strode in with Kate at his heels, she prayed that Henry had found what they needed to heal Will. She turned to them expectantly, but felt her stomach drop seeing Henry's expression.

"Please tell me you found a way to turn these things off." She demanded. "We don't have much time left."

Henry looked to Kate for support and she nodded back. "Tell her." Kate nudged him.

"Henry?" Helen asked.

He shook his head and for a moment Helen worried that Henry would declare that he was unable to do anything more, that all hope was lost, but instead he fixed her with an even stare and spoke up. "We have something that definitely shuts down the nano-cytes, but you're not going to like it."

TBC.....


	10. Chapter 10 and Epilogue

_A/N: Well, here it is, the last chapter. I'm so very grateful for all of your reviews and encouragement in writing this story. It's been a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy this last chapter. As a side not, I'm not an expert at electricity nor am I any sort of medical professional, so much of what you read in this next chapter was gleaned from wikipedia and my own imagination, so any inaccuracies are mine alone, but feel free to correct me if I'm way off base. :D_

**Chapter 10**

"You are certain there is no other way?" Helen asked as she paced the floor in front of Henry and Kate.

"I tried everything else I could think of. This is the only sure-fire way to shut the nano-cytes down completely." Henry argued.

"How much electricity are we talking about here?"

"Well, there's the part you're really not gonna like." Henry looked down at his shoes, unwilling to meet her eyes.

"Just tell me Henry." She insisted. Henry cleared his throat before speaking again cautiously

"I tested all of the nano-cytes I had. Anything less than 500 volts only powered them up more and doubled their reproduction rates. It took over 1000 volts to ensure that all of them were successfully overloaded."

"1000?" Magnus' voice hitched with incredulity. "He's already weak enough as it is. That much electricity could cause serious internal burns, not to mention cardiac arrest."

"I told you you weren't going to like it."

"There's nothing about this plan that I like, Henry. We could end up killing him with this cure."

"We might not have much of a choice here, Doc." Kate cut in. "If we don't do anything then those nano-things are just gonna keep going and Will will certainly die. At least this way he has a fighting chance."

Helen turned around to look at her patient and friend. Even under the veil of unconsciousness, Will's face grimaced in pain and his teeth chattered excessively, the ice packs keeping his fever down for now, but soon, she had to admit, it wouldn't be enough. Kate was right. Will wouldn't have much of a chance if something wasn't done soon, even if that something was as drastic as pumping him full of electricity. At least he might have a chance.

"Set it up, Henry." Her decision made, they got to work.

OOOOO

He was vaguely aware of the bustle of activity occurring around him. Voices cut in and out of his hearing, but he couldn't make out what was said, too lost in the cold and pain was he to make sense of any of it, nor did he have the strength to care anymore.

Darkness beckoned, offered sweet, blissful nothingness if he would just let go. It would be so easy to cut that cord, to give in to find the release from pain that only death could bring. But, somewhere deep inside, something told him to not give up just yet. That's when it registered that it wasn't an internal voice telling him to hold on, but an external one. The one that was touching him now, wiping his brow and grabbing a hold of his hand.

He would have liked to tell her that he was trying, but the icy tendrils wrapped around his body wouldn't allow it and pulled him further away from her until her voice was just a faint, distant white noise.

OOOOO

Everything was set-up and ready to go. Henry had rigged the defibrillator to amp up it's electrical output to the levels necessary to fry the nano-cytes into oblivion, but her fear about this procedure was palpable by all in the room. When Helen Magnus was afraid, then things had to indeed be dire and no one was unaffected by it.

Henry nervously fiddled with the equipment, getting the voltage set to just the right level. Kate took up pacing and Big Foot, while silently stoic, still gave off an air of uncertainty as he removed the ice packs surrounding Will.

Helen meanwhile cleaned the sweat from Will's brow until he was dry than opened up his shirt. He visibly shook from the chill his exposed skin caused and instinctively, she grabbed his hand and leaned in close to his ear, speaking softly the words of encouragement he would need and she would need also to help him through this.

"Will...I don't know if you can hear me or not, but you need to hold on. I'm not ready to give up yet and I won't allow you to either. So stay strong, no matter what."

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she turned to see Henry indicate that everything was ready to go. She nodded once and shored up her courage to take the next step, knowing that what she did next just might kill her friend rather than help him. With on last squeeze to his hand, she straightened up to her full height and took the paddles from her hairy assistant's hands. Big foot opened Will's mouth and slipped in a rubber mouth guard in to minimize the risk of Will biting his tongue once the jolt hit him and it suddenly struck Helen what she was about to do. Her hands shook ever so slightly at the thought, but she hid it well from the others as she took charge.

"Alright...Henry charge it up." Henry just nodded and flicked a few switches, the machine powered up with a high-pitched whine. Helen squirted a liberal amount of gel onto the paddles and rubbed them together to spread it across them evenly.

Taking a deep, calming breath that did little to ease her anxiety, she addressed everyone around the bed. "Stand back away from the bed." She ordered them.

Henry backed up and stood next to Kate, the tension on his face clear as he took the hem of his shirt and rubbed it nervously between his fingers. Kate took notice and in one simple, yet expressive move, she took his hand and held it tight.

"I'm sorry, Will..." She whispered, hoping he would hear her, taking no notice of the others surrounding them, her only focus being Will's face.

Big foot backed away from the bed as Helen placed the paddles onto Will's exposed skin.

"Clear!" She called out from force of habit and depressed the buttons that would send the electrical current flowing into Will's body.

Immediately his body reacted violently. Back arching up off the bed, every muscle in his body tightened and corded grotesquely as they visibly vibrated and shook from the force of the power. He grunted low and Helen held her breath. The whole thing took only seconds, but it felt like an eternity to her until his body finally flopped back to the bed bonelessly, looking for all the world to be dead.

She anxiously scanned the heart monitor. Instead of the normal sinus rythmn she had so desperately hoped for, it raced into disorganized, irregular peaks and valleys.

"Damn....he's in v-fib.....Atropine." She held out her hand and only a second later a needle landed in her palm. Without a moment's hesitation she injected the fluid directly into his heart His heart wasn't pumping sufficiently, instead fluttering uselessly, the cells of his heart failing to beat together, causing chaos withing the muscle itself. Full cardiac arrest was inevitable if she didn't act quickly.

Still clutching the paddles, she hated knowing that she would have to perform a cardioversion and shock him again to reverse the dangerous heart rythmn, but she had little other choice. Only electricity, the thing that had almost just killed him, could save him now. She snapped back into action again and began barking orders to Big Foot.

"Lower the defibrillator to 200." She squirted more gel onto the paddles as he adjusted the machine. From the corner of her eye she caught the tension marking the faces of Henry and Kate as they watched, feeling their fear as her own.

"Clear!" She called out again. Placing the paddles back onto Will's chest, she depressed the button again, sending even more volts into his body, praying this would shock his heart into working properly.

Again his body reacted, tensing his muscles tightly, throwing him upward until he flopped back down lifelessly.

"Bag him!" She ordered her hairy assistant and despite his usual slow pace, he move swiftly and surely to begin pumping air into Will's lungs with the ambubag. Helen gave him a few seconds to get some oxygen into Will while carefully staring at the heart monitor, begging for it to show some sign that his heart was responding to the treatment. When there was none after a few moments she began performing compressions on his chest, wincing internally as she felt the bones of his ribs crack under the pressure of her hand.

One more time she repeated the procedure and again her heart sank seeing little improvement. Then the horrible sound she had been dreading pierced the tense air. The high-pitch whine of the cardiac monitor called out its warning that his heart had given up.

"Dammit, Will....don't do this." At this point she could feel their options slipping away. She was losing him, but she wasn't ready to give up yet as she kept up her frenzied pace, continuing the CPR until her arms began to hurt. She ignored the pain, pressing on until a hairy hand rested on her shoulder.

"He's had enough." She looked up into Big Foot's eyes. Saw the sadness he held in them, to him Will was already gone. She looked down at her patient then, saw the blue lips, the red marks from the shocks and felt a lump grow in her throat that she couldn't contain, her vision blurring with unshed tears.

She wasn't ready for this. "Nonononono...One more time." Her eyes blazed with fury now towards her assistant. She wasn't about to fail Will now. Seeing the determination in her eyes, BigFoot relented with a nod and charged the defibrillator once again. She could see it written on his face that he didn't think it would work, but she was past caring, she had to try again.

The shock jolted through Will's dying body one last time and Helen held her breath again, knowing that this was it, if it didn't work this time, she would have to let him go.

Seconds ticked by with only the flat line of the monitor running across her vision. She felt her hope slip until one blip registered on the screen followed by another and then another. It wasn't for at least half a minute of counting the beats that she finally let go and exhaled, feeling light-headed from the deep relief washing over her.

It seemed as though everyone else in the room also exhaled at the same moment.

OOOOO

Hours later the infirmary was dark and empty, save for a light in the corner where Helen sat reading over the latest results of Will's blood tests. They had done it...The nano-cytes were indeed inactive now, but she really didn't need to read the results to know that. Will's temperature was coming down and he was sleeping peacefully, not having surfaced yet from unconsciousness.

Her only worry lay in the amount of time he had spent under. Oxygen deprivation to his brain coupled with the effects of the fever where still her main concern, any damage done she wouldn't be able to observe and gauge until he fully woke up.

She suddenly felt so tired and bone weary. She had almost killed one of her best friends, even if it had been successful, she still felt such tremendous guilt over everything that had occurred with him. From the fight in the rainforest to trusting Nikola, she had set motion the chain of events that had led to her taking such drastic measures to save Will's life. But, if he were indeed brain-damaged and impaired for the rest of his days, what sort of life had she brought him back to?

A rustling of fabric from across the room snapped her out of her self-flagellation. Will had shifted in his sleep, a small moan issuing from his end of the infirmary. She was on her feet in an instant and making his way over to him, taking a hold of one of his hands once she reached his bedside.

His eyeballs rolled underneath his eyelids, causing his long lashes to flutter like he was caught up in a dream that he was fighting to wake up from. She leaned in and ran a hand across his brow and through his hair.

"Come along now, Will...Go ahead and wake up now." She encouraged him. Feeling his hand tighten around her own, a smile brightened her face. A heartbeat later, his eyes opened to mere slits, but enough for her to see his clear, hazel irises gaze up at her.

"Welcome back." She greeted him softly. For second there, she thought he was going back to sleep on her when his eyes slid shut again, but instead he began speaking and her previous concerns about any brain damage he might have suffered were smoothed over with what he said.

"Hey..." He began, his voice barely above a whisper as he opened his eyes again and looked into bright, blue eyes staring back at him. He felt tired and weak as a kitten, but the pain the remembered from before was gone as were the chills and certainty that he was going to die. He knew there was only one reason he was still alive and he was looking right at her. "Thanks..."

"You don't have to thank me, since this whole entire mess has been my fault."

"That's not true... You never gave up, not once even when I was ready to. You pulled me from the darkness, even before I got my eyesight back, Magnus. I can't thank you enough for that."

Will's eyesight still wasn't 100% of what it used to be, but he could have sworn that he saw her cheeks darken red. It wasn't often that the great Dr. Helen Magnus looked embarrassed or meek and the sight of it made him grin tiredly, grateful to be alive and whole enough to witness such an event.

"You're welcomeThe moment was over almost before it began and she cleared her throat, a clear sigh that she was fighting tears-even Magnus had her tells.

"Get some sleep, Will" She squeezed his hand and he gave himself over to the peacefully serenity that only sleep could bring, the darkness had been pushed aside and on the other side lay beautiful dreams.

**Epilogue**

He grinned to himself as he hefted his carry-on bag higher on to his shoulder. The line through security was incredibly long and slow going as people passed their bags onto the conveyer belt and removed their shoes for inspection, but he didn't mind for once. Soon, he'd be on his way to white, sandy beaches, warm South American breezes and cool umbrella drinks taken under a starry sky, a little vacation was going to reward himself with before he got back to work again.

All was waiting for him in Buenos Aires. A new lab and his stunning new invention that would not only promise to cure himself and resore him to his rightful state, but also bring him profits of an untold fortune. He was so close to being what he had once been that he could practically taste it.

He took another step forward when he felt the presence of two people slide up next to him on both sides. His grin immediately faded into a scowl.

"Going somewhere?" He turned his now frowning face towards the voice, unsurprised to find Helen on his left and her lackey, Henry on the other with Kate not too far off behind him.

"In fact, I am. Now, if you'll excuse me the plane should be boarding soon..." He moved to place his bag on the conveyor belt petulantly only to have Henry pick it up again, the younger man's face registering anger and annoyance as he slung it over his shoulder.

"Be careful with that, it's Italian leather." He snipped.

Helen wrapped her hand around his arm and began pulling him away from the line quietly without causing a scene and alerting security to anything suspicious. "Now Nikola, it would be rude of us to just let you take off so quickly without a proper send-off. Come, let us take a little walk, shall we?"

Nikola sighed and unwillingly allowed himself to be led away from the line and back towards the crowded terminal. "So, how did you find me? I was certain that I was flying under even your radar, Helen."

"Well, you were very good at covering your tracks, but I'm afraid that having a global network of eyes and ears would make it difficult for even one such as yourself to avoid. You might have even gotten away with it if you hadn't gotten greedy. I have a friend in Buenos Aires that heard about a new breakthrough in medical technology that was going to change the world and a certain deal that was made to it's inventor for a new lab. Strange thing about this lab though, seems that said inventor demanded that all the equipment be rubberized...now one would have to wonder why anyone would request something like that, unless of course they were a walking magnet."

"I should have known." He groused.

"Yes, well...hindsight is 20/20 isn't it?" She kept up her cheerful face as they walked, but he could hear the venom in her voice.

"I suppose you're not going to let me go to Argentina then. So what now, back to your jail cell?"

She actually snorted a little at that and grinned genuinely in a way that made his blood go ice cold. "Oh, no...You're free to go since I think it would be best for us all if you left the country, I just wanted to chat before you were gone. Of course, you might have a lot of explaining to do to your new benefactors when you show up without this..." She held up a small vial between her fingers, eyeing him shrewdly. He ignored the other two as they grinned at each other and exchanged smug looks.

Nikola was stuck between wanting to praise Helen for her cunning and smacking the look of satisfaction off of her face. Instead he did neither, opting for a small chuckle of amusement. "You actually want me to believe that you found the nano-cytes I had sent ahead of me to Argentina?"

"It's funny how causcious the postal system has become nowadays. One anonymous tip and packages from all over the country were stopped, inspected and irradiated before being sent on their way. I had some of my people pose as postal inspectors and it wasn't too hard to track this down, especially given that it had to be sent in a dry-ice container to keep it's contents fresh. That really helped narrow things down. You may be good at deception, Nikola, but we're better."

"You're loving this aren't you?" He asked her, his voice hitching with barely contained anger. "You just love to see me brought down." To that Helen sighed and her face took on an honestly pained look.

"No Nikola. I'm sad for you. I actually had hopes that we might be able to work together again and be friends, but the time when that could have been possible has passed."

He wanted to still be angry with her, but all he could feel was a confusing mess of mixed emotions. He didn't have many friends, actually none would be a more accurate estimate and now he didn't think that Helen would ever look at him with any sort of trust again and strangely, he felt bad about that, even remorseful for the loss of their friendship.

"Well, Nikola. It's been nice catching up, but it seems you have a plane to catch and we'll be on our way."

Henry dropped Nikola's bag to the floor unceremoniously at his feet while Helen turned her back on him and began to walk away.

"Wait." He called out to her. He thought for a moment that she would just continue on her way, but to his surprise she stopped and turned around. "I have to know...they worked didn't they? Will's eyesight was restored, the nano-cytes could have worked for me too?"

She seemed on the verge of telling him, but instead she just gave him another little grin. "Have a nice trip, Nikola."

OOOOO

Lifting his leg up to the last step, Will hauled himself up and cursed at how weak he still felt even after a week spent in bed. In all honesty that's where he was still supposed to be, but he just couldn't think of spending anymore time there when there was a whole world full of color, light and beauty waiting just outside for him to get reacquainted with.

Giving himself a moment to catch his breath, he vowed to himself to start working out more as soon as Magnus would let him, then maybe a simple flight of stairs wouldn't leave him so winded.

Now that he had reached his goal, Will inhaled again deeply, enjoying the freshness of the air. It had recently rained, the air still holding the clean and earthy smell that it had brought with it. And now the clouds were parting and giving way to a deep shade of orange and red as the sun began its decent beyond the horizon. It couldn't have been a more perfect sight for him.

He adjusted his new glasses , even though they were thick as coke bottles, he couldn't complain. Dr. Rauch had assured him that he could wear contacts again when he was fully recovered and he was grateful that he could see perfectly clear with them on and besides, he'd worn glasses since high school, so they were nothing new, just a bit stronger. Will still had to grin at the older doctor's expression of disbelief when he came by to exam him the other day and saw the dramatic change in his eyesight. To say he was flabbergasted would be putting it mildly. Thankfully, the aging ophthalmologist didn't push for an explanation, knowing that if it involved Magnus' work, then she would most likely keep it quiet unless he needed to know.

Finding a dry spot, to sit down, Will looked out over the edge of the roof's parapet and gazed at the city below, lights were just beginning to flicker on around the town as twilight approached and he took in the view, never believing that he could have ever once taken such a scene for granted.

He sighed in appreciation of the new world open up to him.

"I thought I might find you here." Helen announced her presence from behind him and he turned around to watch her stride up to him and perch herself next to him. "Seems like I have to keep looking for escapees today."

"Sorry...just didn't think I could stand another minute in bed."

"Actually, I was going to suggest some time outside when I got back, so you've saved me the trouble. However, it's a little chilly out, could you not have at least taken a coat?"

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, mother hen." He kidded her and she grinned back. "I'm fine."

They sat for a few minutes in companionable silence until Helen spoke up again, turning her attention back on Will. "So...I have it under good authority that there are some creatures in Mexico that require some investigation. Apparently they have been causing some havoc and I feel that we might need to go and do some observation to determine what needs to be done about them. That is if you think you'll be up to it in a week or so."

"As long as it's not a rainforest, count me in." He could feel his excitement grow knowing that he would soon be back at doing the job he had missed so much.

"Great."

"So, what kind of creatures are they, and please don't say giant, man-sized lizards." He had to ask.

She chuckled at that and slid him a sly grin which told him that there was something deeper going on than just your normal abnormal. "Actually, they're a rather nasty flock of seagulls stealing chips from tourists in Cancun... This could get dangerous. We'll have to go in deep under cover, pose as tourists, drink cervesas and lay around getting tans...."

Damn, but she could pull off a dead-pan delivery and he found himself laughing. He never in a million years thought that Magnus would ever try to prank him before it was just too rich. "Is this you asking me to go to the beach with you...as in a vacation?" He asked in disbelief. "I didn't think you did vacations."

"Well, I could always take Henry instead...."

"Don't you dare." He laughed again to himself, imagining Magnus wearing a bikini and chugging Coronas while lazing around, it was almost an absurd image, so contrary it was to her character.

"If you're thinking that you'll be seeing me in a two-piece, you've got another thing coming." She came back quickly as if she was reading his mind.

She could show up to the beach in a paper sack for all he cared, this was almost too good to be true and he'd take what he could get.

"Well then, abnormal seagulls here we come."

**The End**


End file.
